Legacy
by KJ
Summary: A group of villains, some more familiar than others, emerge to destroy the rangers and conquer Earth. More specifically they're after Zordon's former rangers, five of whom get together years after their last battle to stop them.
1. Back to Earth

**Disclaimer: **All of the characters from the known Power Rangers universe belong to Disney. Callisto belongs to universal. There is a reference in the fic to the Nova Rangers. Those belong to KSuzie. Everyone else unless otherwise mentioned belongs to me. I don't mind people using my characters, I just ask that you email me and let me know first.

**Author's Notes:** This is the first chapter of my new series, Power Rangers: Legacy. It is a sequel to the series Ranger Scrolls. Unlike Ranger Scrolls, I am going to post all the stories of Legacy in this one file as chapters. You don't have to have read Ranger Scrolls to read Legacy, as I will try to fill the information in as the story goes on. If you ever have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

This first chapter is sort of a summary of what has been going on for the last eight years since Ranger Scrolls ended. I'm really going to get into the story with chapter two. This is going to be a bit different than Ranger Scrolls as the characters are older and everything has changed, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know what you think as I love to hear from everybody.

If you are interested in learning more about the original characters in Legacy, go over to my bio page and click on the Characters link. That should hopefully help some.

Also I would like to thank KSuzie for helping me think of a name for the series.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Back to Earth"

On a late February day in 2007, two females found themselves standing on one of the sandy beaches in the town of Angel Grove, California. Both women had spent most of their young lives in this town, and part of their adult lives as well. Both had spent the last few years in space, and were now enjoying their first few moments back on Earth.

Both girls were familiar to the locals, yet not. Both came back to Angel Grove stronger, tougher, faster and smarter than before. Both had experiences in space that shaped who they were, that changed everything for them. Now that their adventures were over, both were looking forward to get back to living life on Earth.

The first of these two is Carri Lauren Hillard, formerly known as the Yellow Zeo ranger and the Yellow Ninja Zeo ranger, and still holding her Yellow Panther Ninjetti powers. She was part of the group of rangers that fought the final battle on Earth, the one that purified all of their enemies making Earth safe. Of course Earth had been in danger since then, but that had been none of the former rangers concern.

Carri spent two years after the Zordon wave finishing college. In the spring of 2001 she graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's of arts in communications and a minor in broadcast journalism. Her boyfriend, Rocky DeSantos, also graduated with her. He got his bachelor's in business, and used his knowledge to open a karate school in Angel Grove.

Around the same time he opened his school, he and Carri moved into a small apartment together. She had just gotten a job as an on location reporter for the local Fox news affiliate. For the next year in a half, this was how it worked. Rocky ran his schools, which became more and more popular with time. Carri was a reporter, whose energy and enthusiasm, plus local ties, quickly made her the most popular reporter in Angel Grove.

As 2003 started, she had heard that the station had huge plans for her. She and Rocky were both excited. Rocky because not only did the woman he love have huge things planned for her professionally, but he was planning on proposing to her. Unfortunately, Carri never found out about the stations final plans for her or Rocky's plans.

Around the end of January of that same year, Zhane came back to Earth after flying around in space in the Megaship Mark II. The ship technically belonged to Andros, but Zhane was getting a lot of use out of it since Andros was busy settling in with his new wife Ashley on Earth. Zhane hadn't come for a visit, he had come to share some unsettling news. He wanted to share it with Billy, who still spent some time in the Command Chamber keeping it running and making sure anyone attacking Earth had rangers to fight them. Technically he worked over in Silicon Valley and lived in San Francisco with his wife Trini, but he and Trini both treated the Command Chamber like a second job.

Zhane went to the Command Chamber. Billy wasn't there so he sat the disk he had which held all the information on it down on one of the consoles before teleporting himself to Angel Grove for a while. He ran into Carri, who had just finished a story and was getting ready to go for lunch. She was surprised to see him, Andros had said he was living on KO-35. But Zhane explained to her that the word around the galaxy was that an old foe of theirs was still alive. Not only alive but contemplating building an army to come back to Earth after them, after Carri.

When Carri inquired to who the enemy was, she wasn't surprised to find out that it was Callisto. She thought she had turned good with the Zordon wave, but the goddess must have hidden from it. Carri was enraged to find that she wanted to come after her, and told Zhane that she wanted to find her first. Zhane volunteered to help her search the galaxy in the megaship so they could look for answers. Carri went to Rocky that afternoon and told him the situation. She explained to him that Callisto coming to Earth would be her fault, and that she had to find her first.

Rocky didn't agree, but he let her go, saying he wouldn't stop loving her. She said she loved him as well, and that she wouldn't be gone long and that things would be back to normal soon. After telling her parents she would be unreachable as she was trekking around the world, and telling the studio there was a family emergency so she needed a leave of absence for an undetermined amount of time, Carri and Zhane were off.

They spent the first eight months of their journey tracking down leads that Zhane had found. None of the leads panned out, frustrating Carri to no end. Zhane could see the anger building daily, and spoke to Carri of a wise man on KO-35 who could teach her, to help find and defeat Callisto when the time was right. Carri was hesitant but desperate, so she let Zhane take her to him.

The man's name was Baznos, and he told Zhane to leave her with him, that he would take care of her. He said he would contact Zhane when she was ready. Carri didn't think it would take too long, and she was in for a surprise.

It was the end of 2004 before he finally contacted Zhane. In that year she was trained in fighting, finally becoming what those on Earth would call a black belt. She was taught how to clear her mind to strengthen her body, which was a skill most Karovan's were taught, one that both Andros and Zhane had been taught. Once she learned to clear her mind, she could learn the telekinetic abilities that both Andros and Zhane possessed. When her mentor felt like she was ready, he contacted Zhane.

Zhane picked her up and explained to her that the same man was his mentor in his youth. He and Andros had both been selected to be rangers, and rangers should be strong according to the Karovan's. Zhane said that he had finally come across some new information on Callisto that they could follow, something that might actually pan out. As they flew through the galaxy looking for leads, Zhane helped her learn to master her telekinetic abilities. Working closely with Zhane Carri started to feel a connection with him. It had been two years since she had been on Earth, long enough for Rocky to have moved on, long enough for both of them to have changed.

Their connection developed into a physical relationship which thrived for a few months before they both realized that they didn't love each other, not like that anyway. They were both still very close, but Zhane still harbored feelings toward Karone while Carri still loved Rocky. They were very good friends who worked together and trained together and spent time together.

They would follow leads from one right to the next. They would speak to people, sometimes using their telekinetic powers as a scare tactic. If all else failed, Carri would let it come right down to brute strength. Carri's training had helped her focus more when following leads. She and Zhane worked leads across the galaxy, right down to the scum who said he heard of a wizard who was on call for Callisto. He gave Carri and Zhane the name of the bar that he could be found and the planet it was located on.

At that point Carri thought she was the only Ninja Zeo in space. Of course she now knows that she was wrong, as the other woman she had just gotten back to Earth with, the woman that was standing there with her on this February 2007 day, was Kimberly Ann Hart. Kim was the former Pink Ninja Zeo ranger, Pink Zeo ranger as well as Pink Morphin ranger, and she still held her Pink Crane Ninjetti power.

Kim's story developed a little differently than Carri's. Kim was in love with a man named Tommy Oliver. Tommy graduated from USC in the fall of 2000, a full year before Kim graduated. He had obtained his bachelor's of science in geology, and had gotten accepted the following spring to a master's program at Arizona to study paleontology. They had kept a long distance relationship, but it drove Kim crazy. It didn't help that the only apparent friend Tommy made down there was a woman named Hayley, a graduate from MIT who was studying in Arizona.

Kim tried not to let it get to her as she finished up her bachelors in marketing. Shortly after she got her degree, she moved to Arizona to be with Tommy. It was a difficult year, as Tommy spent most of his time working on his masters. When they went out, they typically met up and hung out with Hayley. Kim hated it. Not that she minded Hayley, or the fact that Tommy had a lot of school work. But she hated the fact that she never had time alone with Tommy. Even when he was home, he was doing work

Tommy promised that when his master's was finished it would just be the two of them. Then at the start of the summer of 2002, just as he had finished his master's program, Tommy came to Kim with what he thought was exciting news. He was going after his PhD, and was going to work with a brilliant man named Anton Mercer, who had allowed him to intern with him some the previous year. Kim pretended to be thrilled for him, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed. Working and getting a PhD would leave him no time for her. Kim loved Tommy more than anything, and she knew he still loved her. Unfortunately for her the schedule he was keeping in order to get his doctorate had forced him to put schooling in front of her.

That fall, Kim decided to take some time to go back to Angel Grove and visit some friends while Tommy worked on his doctorate. She had planned on hooking up with the former rangers, but never got around to seeing them. As she drove through the Angel Grove desert, she saw a crashed spaceship. Against her better judgement she got out and went to investigate.

She was glad that she did, as Delphine was the alien in the ship. She helped her out and took her to see Billy. The news Delphine brought was shocking. Apparently before they were purified, Rita and Zedd had a daughter. She was hidden by someone who worked for the duo. Delphine couldn't be completely sure who it was, but she did know this person was training her and getting her ready to one day invade Earth and revenge her parents demise. As far as the creature taking care of her was concerned, her parents were killed the day they turned good.

Kim was shocked to hear this news. She wanted to investigate further. Her duty as a ranger had never left her. She imagined that Zordon always knew she'd take care of Earth, power or no power, from the day he picked her. With her not having a job and Tommy concentrating on school, Kim decided she could best help by going back with Delphine to Aquitar. Delphine agreed, and Kim called Tommy and told him that she loved him but there was something she had to do, and she wasn't sure when she was coming back. She didn't want him to worry, he was too busy working on his PhD to be concerned with the potential offspring of Rita. It was for the best as his destiny was forming a path different from her own. Without saying another word to anyone, she took off.

The former pink ranger spent the first year of her search on Aquitar, trying to filter any information that came through. Sometimes they would go hunt down other aliens if their names came up in the search. Most of it was useless, anyone they could talk to claimed to know nothing. At one point Kim was starting to feel as though the entire search was useless.

The Aquitarians received a strange transmission one afternoon. It was from Phaedos, from Dulcea. She had heard of Kim's quest and wanted to help her, so she asked her to come to Phaedos to see her.

Kim took off immediately for Phaedos. She was appreciative of any help that Dulcea could give. She wasn't aware of how Dulcea was going to help her until she got there. Dulcea wanted to help by being Kim's mentor, as she had always sensed great things from her and now was the time to put them in motion. She spent the next year working on her protege. She spent some time working on her fighting skills, but mostly she taught her skills that would help her master her animal spirit and put it to its full use. She taught her how to control her mind, and how to become one with the crane. When she was in harmony with the crane, her natural balance and agility is amplified, making her a fierce warrior. Eventually she learned to tap into the crane's natural abilities, and although she couldn't technically fly she could hover several feet in the air and maneuver over opponents.

When Dulcea felt like she was finished with her training, she contacted Aquitar to send someone for her. Before Kim left, Dulcea gave her a wooden box which was sealed. Kim looked at the seal, it didn't look like it would ever break. Dulcea assured her that when the time was right the seal would collapse on itself, allowing her access to the power inside.

Kim thanked Dulcea and returned back to Aquitar, and at the start of 2005 the search was back on for Rita and Zedd's offspring. She spent that year following multiple leads, until finally something panned out. She learned that the child had two people surrounding her. One had rescued her from the moon and brought her there. The other had come across them in space and wanted the same goals as the child. This person became the new general, in charge of all the operations. This person had recently used their influence to hire a powerful wizard, one who was able to age the girl to twenty years old. At twenty she was a powerful witch, and would be able to work well with her general to bring pain and destruction to earth.

Kim was able to obtain the name and location of the wizard. She wasted no time going to the planet in question. She spent the first ten minutes observing the bar that the wizard was supposedly at. To her surprise, two figures came walking into the bar, both of whom she recognized. She followed them into the bar and watched as they used telekinetic abilities to try and contain the wizard.

The wizard was too powerful and he easily escaped. His apprentice, who was having a drink with him, turned to try and run from the duo that attacked his master. He ran right into Kim, who hit him in the nose causing him to fall back. The two figures looked at Kim in shock. Neither Carri nor Zhane ever expected to run into Kim in this bar at the far reaches of the galaxy, and they could tell she was thinking the same thing.

They worked together to get the young apprentice out of the bar and to some sort of safe location that Kim had set up. Both of their journey's had led them to the same point. The apprentice confessed that his master had done some work for Callisto. He also said that she was Rita and Zedd's daughter's general, and wanted her to be older and powerful so she could use her magic to help attack Earth. He even confessed the planet they had been hiding on, as he was afraid for his life.

At that point Kim joined Zhane and Carri on the megaship. The trio swapped stories about how they got there in the first place while they barreled toward the planet in question. Once they reached the planet, they went to survey the scene.

It was just as the apprentice had said. Callisto was there, along with Rita's daughter who they later found out was named Rhianna. They quickly figured who had saved Rhianna, as Goldar stood by her side. He now served her, and even found himself occasionally forced to do Callisto's bidding. Although Callisto didn't call on him often, as she had her own commander, a strange alligator like creature with a mutated fox head. They also found that she had her own warriors, which were clad in black with the exception of the dark purple gloves and boots, and the dark purple bands around their waists and foreheads. They later found out that the commander was named Cratus and the warriors were called Cirranadrones.

They returned to the megaship to discuss what they were going to do. They certainly couldn't leave Rhianna and Callisto there with their troops there to gain power and come for Earth. After what felt like wasted hours trying to come up with a strategy but drawing blanks, the trio found themselves stressed and fatigued and decided it was time to take a break. Kim wondered back into her quarters and collapsed on her bed. However as tired as she was the former pink ranger couldn't sleep and started rummaging through her things.

Upon pulling out the box that Dulcea gave her, the seal broke. Kim thought about the power that Dulcea claimed the box held, and she ran to get Zhane and Carri. All three of them stood over the box as Kim opened it, to reveal what looked like power morphers inside. Zhane was surprised. He had heard of the legend of that box and its power and of the rangers it could create.

Kim waved her hand across the box as she was going to select a morpher. The red morpher glowed for her and she picked it up. Carri and Zhane watched as its power bonded with her, making Kim the red ranger and team leader. Zhane explained how you didn't choose the power, that the power chose you. It had been rumored that the person who held the morphers was charged with watching over the powers and they would pass the morphers onto the red ranger when the time was right. Kim was surprised, Dulcea must have known all along that she was meant to be the red ranger. During her stay on Phaedos, Dulcea kept saying that Kim had great things in store for her, and now it all made sense. As the initial awe of the powers wore off, Zhane and Carri both took a turn at the box and both were rewarded, as Carri became the white ranger and Zhane became the green ranger.

They used their new morphers to take on Callisto and Rhianna. They quickly found out that with their new morphers came great powers. They were known as the Planetary Rangers, each ranger in the team having the ability to use one of Earth's basic elements.

Kim was the Red Fire Ranger, having the ability to manipulate fire and use it on her enemies, which came in handy against Callisto's fireball attacks. Her weapon was the Flame Saber, and she could create fire on the blade slicing it through her enemies. Carri was the White Lightning Ranger, and her abilities involved manipulating lightning and calling forth lightning strikes on her enemies. Her weapon was the Lightning Lance, which acted as a lightning rod, holding a powerful charge and sending volts of electricity through her enemies as they were hit. Zhane was the Green Terra Ranger, having power over the ground beneath them. This gave him the ability to use the land to his advantage in many ways, the most destructive of which was his ability to create earthquakes around his enemies. His weapon was the Terra Axe, which he could use to split the Earth beneath his enemies feet.

With these new powers they were able to engage their enemies in battle and hold them off. After a few months of this they realized that three rangers weren't going to be enough to hold off Callisto and Rhianna forever, let alone defeat them. Their strategies started to get more intricate and less confrontational, trying to take them out a little bit at a time. Kim and Carri's training on Phaedos and KO-35 started to come into play.

After a little over seven months of fighting with these tactics, they realized that they weren't going to be able to defeat them, at least not like this. They had managed to cripple them, but that wasn't enough. What they needed now was an all out attack. They put out a transmission to any available ranger in the galaxy to come help them defeat the offspring of the evil Lord Zedd and Rita, along with the goddess Callisto. Not only did their future and the future of Earth depend on their ability to defeat them, but the future of the universe did as well.

Over the next few weeks they received responses from all over the galaxy. Some of their help they were familiar with. Kim and Carri knew Lord Trey of Triforia, as well as the Alien Rangers of Aquitar. Zhane had met the Phantom Ranger, who had also come to their assistance. There were several teams that responded from planets they had never heard of, such as the Nova Rangers from Reiga 4.

Once they had enough rangers, they worked on a plan. As a Planetary Ranger, and the Red Fire Ranger, Kim became the leader of the teams of rangers. Several of the male rangers had difficulty with a woman as a red ranger, let alone in charge. Elemi was the Red Nova Ranger, and had never even worked with a female ranger. He was leading the charge against Kim as the mission's leader. Fortunately with Zhane and Carri plus Trey and the Aquitarian Rangers standing firmly by her side, Elemi and the other teams found themselves with no choice but to take orders from a female red. Soon after Kim led all of the rangers into battle against Rhianna and her forces.

The final battle lasted days, but when the dust was cleared the rangers stood victorious. The empire Rhianna had worked so hard to build had been destroyed, and her and her armies went down with it. The rangers were overjoyed at the destruction. Those who had doubted Kim's abilities as a leader were silenced, and they now embraced her as a red.

After a massive celebration the teams disbanded and went back to their home worlds. Upon realizing that a four year quest was now over, Kim and Carri asked Zhane to take them back to Earth. He was more than happy to oblige, as he wanted the opportunity to be with Karone who lived on Earth so that she could spend time with her brother and his wife and her two year old niece and infant nephew.

It took a little over two weeks to return to Earth. Zhane dropped Kim and Carri off in Angel Grove while he went to Karone's. Carri mentioned that the one thing that she missed about Earth was the sand beneath her toes. Kim agreed, and that's what brought them to the Angel Grove beach that afternoon.

Kim and Carri stood overlooking the ocean. Carri took a deep breath, inhaling the ocean air. "It's nice to be back. It seems like it was lifetimes ago that we were here."

Kim nodded. "I had all but forgotten what it was like to be on Earth."

It was different for both of them, as neither had been on the planet in at least four years. Things had changed, they had changed. Carri turned her head and something had caught her eye. At least one thing hadn't changed, not much anyway. She pointed off into the distance and Kim turned to see what she was pointing at.

"The beach club?" Kim asked as she looked toward it. It wasn't the same as she remembered, but it was still the beach club.

"I think it's time for some real American food." Carri said. They had long ago gotten sick of eating from the synthetron. Nothing replaced a good cooked meal.

The two girls headed for the beach club, and when they reached the counter they were greeted by a familiar face. Age had gotten the best of the man standing in front of them, but it was still the same person they once knew.

Ernie smiled at the two girls standing in front of him. It had been years since he had seen either of them, and was surprised to see them now. Both women looked older than the last time he had seen them but both were still beautiful. There was something about the way they stood there, some kind of aura they were giving off. They had changed, yet they hadn't. "Kim and Carri." He said with a smile. "It's been a long time."

Kim smiled and nodded. "Yes it has." She replied.

"We were looking for a place to get some food. Do you know of any?" Carri asked smiling over at him.

"Why don't you girls have a seat. I think I can help you." Ernie said gesturing to the bar seats as he walked off.

Both girls took a seat on a bar stool. That was one of the things about this place that had changed. Ernie had built an amazing bar out of his outdoor beach club and expanded the initial structure, giving the building itself a completely new look.

"So now what?" Kim asked.

Carri shrugged. "We get jobs, a place to live..." She let her voice trail off.

"I don't know about you but it's not that easy to get a job." Kim pointed out. It was going to be even harder for them considering they had vanished for four years and neither had an official job during that time.

"We'll worry about that later. I'll get a place and you're welcome to stay with me until you get a job and get on your feet." Carri assured her.

Kim frowned. "It's kind of hard to get a place without money."

"Ah but you see I do have money. My dad created savings accounts for both me and my brother when we were kids. He constantly put money in them, making sure there was enough to go through college, get a masters and PhD, and live off campus at any university in the country. Once we graduated high school, assuming we went to college, the accounts were put in our names. That was all the money we were getting for our education for tuition and housing, so if we blew it on big screen tv's, we were in trouble. That's how I paid for the apartment and cell phone in college." Carri explained.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Kim started smiling at her friend, "but you blew it all on clothes."

"Dad gave me a credit card, which was my monthly allowance for food, gas, clothes, that sort of thing. And since I went to an in state school, and only got a bachelors, I have enough money left to make a down payment and a few monthly payments on a place and a car. And if I had to I could always get my dad to sign with me." She finished her explanation. Not that she wanted her dad's name on anything she owned, but if it came down to it she would cave. She needed a place to live and transportation and was not going to move back to New York to get it.

Kim sighed. "Well that's one step." She said. If she could at least live with Carri for a while, that was one less thing she had to worry about. Now there was the issue of a woman who has never had a real job finding one. She didn't work after college when she was living with Tommy. She looked around, but never found anything solid. It's been five years since her internship and her bachelors, and she didn't know if anyone would hire her. Carri at least had a year and a half's worth of job experience under her belt, she shouldn't have much problem.

A few seconds later Ernie came back and set two plates of food and two smoothies down in front of the girls. Carri took a sip of the smoothie and smiled. "Strawberry-orange. You remembered."

"You two were kind of hard to forget." He said. He was one of the few people in Angel Grove who knew that he owed his life and his town to these two, among others. Even before their ranger days they had been patrons of the Youth Center, and he could never forget them.

"How much?" Carri asked gesturing to the food.

"It's on the house." Ernie replied as he walked off.

Carri let out a sigh of relief as she hadn't really thought about money before she ordered. She thought she may have some intergalactic currency on her, but she doubted that would get her far with Ernie.

Kim took a bite of her burger and savored the flavors before swallowing. It had been so long since she'd had real food she'd almost forgotten what it tasted like. She turned to Carri who was also starting to enjoy her meal. "It's good to be home."

Carri nodded in agreement as the girls finished their lunch. They were glad to finally be back on Earth and put the years of chasing after bad guys behind them.


	2. Changes

**Disclaimer:** There are a few things in this story that need to be credited to KSuzie. For starters, Ausus Productions was her idea. And there's a mention of the character Marie which will be based off the character she created. There's another mention of the Novas which are hers as well. And I do believe that's it.

**Author's Notes:** In chapter two Kim and Carri are starting to get used to life in Angel Grove again. I hope everyone enjoys and as always I love hearing from everyone.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Changes"

Kim sat at the kitchen table of the house she was temporarily sharing with Carri as she nervously ate her breakfast while drinking her coffee. Kim had good reason to be nervous on this Thursday morning as she was getting ready to go for another job interview.

This would be her sixth interview in the six weeks they've been back. Not many companies were hiring for their marketing departments, and noone was hiring someone with an internship and no experience to speak of since graduating college in 2001.

It was frustrating to be in this position. The argument could be made that she put herself in this position, taking off to search the galaxy for Rhianna. But she didn't for one second regret the quest. Through that quest she became a stronger woman, a stronger ranger, and those were things that she wouldn't give back for anything. What she did regret was leaving Tommy for four years without ever really letting him know what was going on. But she had received updates on the battles on Earth, and she knew her leaving Tommy was for the best. His path led him to solidify his name in ranger history, creating his own team with his own powers and fighting his own bad guys in Reefside. As far as she knew he was still living in Reefside, but much like Carri she hadn't felt like she was ready to go up to an old boyfriend and say sorry for disappearing for four years.

What frustrated Kim almost more than being in this position was the fact that a job had come so easily to Carri. Unlike Kim she did have some work experience, but she still didn't have anything on her resume for the last four years. Of course when it's your father that hires you, it doesn't make a lot of difference.

Upon returning Carri let her family know she was back from trekking across the globe. After getting over the initial anger for not hearing from her for so long, her father was thrilled as he had thought of so many ideas for his daughter. He had seen the work she had done as a reporter for Angel Grove's Fox News. He had seen how she worked the camera with ease, and how viewers didn't hesitate to focus all their attention on what she had to say. He thought she'd be a great hostess for a television show as she could easily captivate an audience. He had a show he wanted to produce that had involved giving viewers a different take on cities around the world and wanted Carri to be in charge of it since she had spent four years traveling.

At first Carri refused, saying that she had just gotten home from worldly travels and wasn't about to pick up and leave again. Her father assured her that she was only going to be the shows hostess, filming the intros and endings and small pieces between segments, all of which could be filmed in the comforts of a studio in Angel Grove. Being that she had so little on camera work to do, he also asked her to take on some of the production duties. Carri was very hands on with each news story she did, and this kind of work wouldn't be much different.

Carri agreed and they started on the production aspects of the show. She flew to New York for a week and helped her father hire three people who were going to be on location and cover different aspects of each city. The first was a culture expert, who discussed the people in the city, the places to go and the things to see while you were there. The second was a culinary expert who talked about typical food for the area and the best places to eat it. Carri was thrilled that they had hired one of the runners up from the Food Network's challenge show. She had seen the footage of the show and had absolutely loved the guy they hired. The third was an expert in fashion, and discussed what was popular in each city and the best places to find it for the right prices.

They just finished shooting the first show, which was done right here in Angel Grove. As Kim had a lot of spare time on her hands, she was able to see what all Carri was doing with the shows. This first show she was more involved in as a hostess than normal, as she personally went with each expert to introduce them to the audience as they explored Angel Grove. Kim picked up on a lot of Carri's jobs, including going through a list of potential sites in each city and picking the ones she wanted her experts to go to. The experts themselves would do the research and help come up with the dialogue for each site. She sat with her friend one afternoon in the studio as she and her team went through the footage, picking the clips of places that she thought would come across as most interesting to the viewer.

Now that the show was finished taping, Carri was busy working on the technical aspects of the show, including the credits both opening and closing, the fonts and the music. That was another one of the jobs that was more tedious the first time through, as once she did it once most of it she didn't have to do again, with the exception of approving the music that would be played during the show itself. April was just around the corner, and they were hoping well before the months end they would have the first show finished and ready to go to a network. As soon as Carri's father saw the show, did any edits he deemed necessary and approved it, it was going to be sent out to the stations that had already shown interest.

Kim sighed. If she wanted to she was sure one of her parents could help her get her a job. But she declined to follow in either's footsteps. She didn't think Carri would ever follow the career path her father suggested, but she made the argument that it wasn't acting and it was a lot like the news, and that she was learning more production stuff than anything.

She couldn't be angry at her friend for getting that sort of opportunity. It still frustrated her that a few days after coming home Carri was back into the swing of things. Meanwhile Kim sat six weeks later at the kitchen table not able to finish the cereal in front of her due to butterflies in her stomach, and her second cup of coffee was making her nervous jitters even worse.

Kim dumped the rest of the cereal down the sink and put her bowl and her coffee cup in the dishwasher. She took a deep breath as she head into the bedroom, getting dressed for her latest interview.

* * *

Two hours later Kim found herself sitting in the waiting room of what could very well be her last real chance to get a job. She was interviewing with the head of the company and the head of the marketing department for a position working in marketing. Kim hoped for the best as this was one of the most exciting job opportunities she'd had. Plus she thought she may actually have an advantage going into this one.

"They'll see you now." The secretary said as she smiled at Kim.

Kim smiled back as she stood, legs wobbly. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before walking toward the office and opening the doors, heading in for her interview. She shut the door behind her and saw two women there. The first woman was sitting beside the desk.

"Sandy Kern, head of marketing." She said introducing herself as she stood, holding her hand out.

"Kimberly Hart." She replied shaking her hand before turning to the woman behind the desk and flashing her a huge smile.

"Ashley Hammond." The woman behind the desk said as she extended her hand to Kim. Of course she knew Kim, but for Sandy's benefit she was going to pretend as though she didn't. Sandy didn't take well to people interviewing who knew the boss. Of course a lot of people claimed to know the boss, as Ashley was extremely popular well before her clothing company took off. A lot of people had spoken to her before because they were in awe of her being the former yellow ranger, and they thought that them knowing that would translate into work for them. What Ashley really cared about was qualifications, which most of those who knew her only as the yellow ranger lacked.

Kim shook Ashley's hand before she had a seat. She was thrilled to be able to interview with Ashley. She was one of the few people in the universe that would understand her lack of employment for the last few years. Of course that wouldn't be enough to get the job.

"So Kimberly," Sandy said as she started to look through her resume, "there are some great work samples here from your internship. Six years ago."

Kim felt the wind escape from her sails quickly. The tone in Sandy's voice suggested that she didn't think highly of Kim's lack of work and wouldn't care to much for Kim working for her. "Yes I was one of the top students in my class that year." She said trying to save herself.

"But since then you haven't had any real work experience." Sandy pointed out, much like everyone else she had ever interviewed with.

"Yes but I can explain."

Sandy declined to let Kim finish. "Let me guess. You were busy being a housewife?"

"Sandy." Ashley snapped glaring toward her. Sandy immediately backed down. Usually Ashley would agree that a lack of work experience for five years wasn't a good thing, but she knew what had happened in Kim's situation. Zhane had been firmly attached to Karone since they had gotten back, and both and spent a lot of time with her and Andros. Zhane was eager to tell the stories from the last few years. What Sandy didn't know, didn't understand was that she owed her peaceful existence in Angel Grove to Kim's mission of the last four years. "Let her explain."

"My mother, she lives in Paris. She was very ill. The doctor's didn't think she was going to make it. I stood by her side through the surgeries and the treatments. After four years they were certain she was going to be alright, and I came back home." Kim explained. She hated using her mother and saying that she was ill. But it was one of the few things that made sense for why she practically dropped off the face of the Earth for four years.

"I'm sorry. I just can't see hiring someone who has no experience. At one point you would have made a bright young hire, but that was a long time ago." Sandy said, not caring about Kim's explanation for where she was all those years.

Ashley watched as the expression on Kim's face dropped. She had a feeling that she had been getting this sort of reaction across town. Ashley was the only one who knew what had actually happened to Kim over the last four years, and was the only one who would consider giving her a chance. If Kim was still able to do the work she had seen in her portfolio, she would make an excellent addition to their marketing team. "You're hired."

Almost simultaneously both Kim and Sandy replied with a "what?", although Kim's was more full of surprise while Sandy's was angry. "This is my department and I seriously doubt she can do it." Sandy said glaring at Ashley.

Ashley flashed her a smile. "And this is my company and we'll hire who I say we'll hire." She reminded her. Although Sandy did excellent work, she would be able to be easily replaced. Sandy was well aware of this, which is why her shoulders slumped as if to say she would comply. "Kim, you start Monday."

Kim's smile could have lit up the room as she stood and shook Ashley's hand. "Thank you for the opportunity." She said.

"My pleasure." Ashley said smiling back at her. She was excited to have Kim coming to work for her, and she hoped to be able to get together with her that weekend in a setting where they could talk freely.

Kim let go of Ashley's hand before shaking Sandy's as well, then turned to leave the office. Not even Sandy's scowl could ruin her good mood as she headed home to change before meeting her best friend for lunch.

* * *

Carri sat outside her home and honked her horn. Kim was waiting inside and they were getting ready to go for a late lunch. She was glad for the interruption, as it had been a busy morning and Carri thought her head was going to explode if she had to sit there one more minute and go through any of the production papers her father had sent her. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect, which is why although she was technically in charge her father and brother had both been standing behind her telling her what to do next.

She sighed and stretched as she glanced at the front door of her house. It was amazing to have something like this in her name. She had gotten the job with her father not long after she returned, and that was enough for a house and a car. She had a lot of decorating she wanted to do with the place both inside and out, but hadn't had much time yet with the busy schedule she was keeping. The house itself was nice. It was a ranch with two bedrooms and two full baths, a smaller room she used as an office, plus the living room, kitchen and dining room. The best part of it was the huge back porch with the amazing view of the lake in the distance.

After a few seconds of staring at the front door she was rewarded, as Kim came bouncing out of the house with more energy than Carri had seen in her since they had been back. Kim locked the door and climbed into the passengers seat of Carri's brand new Eclipse Spyder and thought about how over the years some things didn't change. Well at least one thing, and that was Carri's desire to drive down the road with the wind whipping through her hair.

"Where are we going to lunch?" Kim asked as she shut the door and fastened her seatbelt.

Carri smiled at her as if she was holding in some huge secret. "To this indoor/outdoor café I heard about."

"Are you going to tell me?" Kim asked raising an eyebrow as Carri backed out of the driveway.

"What and spoil the surprise?" she replied trying hard not to laugh.

Kim gave her a look as she took off. She was bursting at the seams to go into detail about her morning and her interview with Ashley, but she figured that could wait until they were sitting at a table without the wind drowning them out. Instead they made small talk during the short trip to Carri's lunch destination. Her friend pulled them into a parking spot and Kim got a good luck at the title on the café as Carri was closing the top on the car.

"Bulkmeier's?" she questioned. "Is that?"

Carri knew the question she was formulating as she looked at the sign. Some of the guys who worked for her came here all the time and they went on and on about how much they loved it. She heard the name and couldn't help but look the place up. When she found out who owned it, she knew she and Kim had to go there sometime. "Yes." she said answering Kim's unasked question. "Owned by Bulk and Skull."

"Really?" she asked. Their high school antics made her wonder if they would ever amount to anything as adults. However if there was one thing Bulk knew about, it was food.

"Come on let's go try it out." Carri said as she climbed out of the car.

Kim followed and listened as the door locks clicked. She and Carri headed into the restaurant and were immediately greeted by the hostess. "Two?" she questioned as she smiled at the two women who had walked into the café. Carri nodded so the hostess continued. "Indoors or outdoors?"

Kim and Carri thought about it as the hostess picked up menus and silverware while they glanced around the restaurant. Carri looked outside and suddenly grabbed Kim's arm and pointed out the window. "Is that man by himself?" she asked looking over at the hostess.

"Yes but that's Mr. Scott. He is not to be disturbed." The hostess replied giving them a smile.

Mr. Scott, or Jason as the girls knew him, had become quite famous over the years. Rangering ran through his blood, and it was the only thing he knew. He decided to put his tales into science fiction novels, where the main hero wasn't a ranger but was a superhero based off of himself and the villains and monsters were based off of real experiences that he had as a ranger. He had hordes of secondary characters, including two brunette sisters who worked closely with him to save the galaxy plus several others that were reoccurring characters and also based on former rangers.

The realism of the novels made him not only a huge success in the science fiction community but with the mainstream community as well. Jason did not want to be known as the writer behind the books, so he wrote under the name Luke Kirk, a name his sister thought of for him. He had never been a huge science fiction fan, he only wrote in the genre because that's what his experiences would be considered to the world, science fiction. That's why he let his science fiction obsessed sister come up with the name he would publish under. She took names from two of her favorite science fiction characters ever, Luke Skywalker and Captain Kirk, combining them into one for Jason to use. Bulk and Skull were the only ones who knew that Jason was Luke Kirk, and that's why while he was at Bulkmeier's they made sure he was granted his privacy.

Kim smiled at the hostess. "I don't think he'll mind if we disturb him." She said as she and Carri walked toward the back door.

The hostess chased after them as they opened the door and walked outside. "Excuse me Mr. Scott?" Carri called out smiling at an old friend.

Jason looked up just as the hostess came through the door behind them. "I'm sorry Mr. Scott, we'll escort them from the café."

Jason smiled as he stood up and looked the two girls over. "It's alright. They're fine." He replied as he looked at them. He couldn't believe that after four years, his two best friends, his sisters, had finally returned home.

They had been there for him through a lot. They were there the day that he went home to Angel Grove, to visit his girlfriend only to find her in the arms of another man. Her excuse was that they were both in school and he was never there. After all they'd been through, her doing that to him hurt him more than anything ever had, but having Carri and Kim there made it better. They had become everything to him, as Emily was gone and Tommy was working so hard to get through school to eventually lead another ranger team that he didn't have time for Kim, let alone Jason.

He kept up with them after graduation and was devastated to find that they had each taken off into space without him. Part of him was jealous, he would have loved to be able to be out there and back in the action in more than just a random red ranger mission capacity. Another part of him was worried as here they were, each off on their own mission traveling through the galaxy without anyone to really protect them. Jason often visited the Command Chamber, getting updates from Billy on the action on Earth and getting updates on the slim bits of information Billy would get about their travels. Now they were standing here in front of him and it was almost too good to be true.

Jason walked over toward them and put his arms around both of them, pulling them in for a hug. "It's so good to see you." He said as he stood back and looked them over.

"It's good to see you too." Kim replied smiling as Carri nodded and smiled as well.

"How long have you been back?" Jason asked. He couldn't imagine they would have been back too long, he was sure they would have contacted him.

"Six weeks." Carri said flashing an apologetic smile. Jason frowned and she continued. "Sorry we haven't called. It's just been kind of odd you know? We're trying to get back into the swing of things and I don't think either of us has been really ready to start visiting old friends, even our not by blood brother. But we're absolutely thrilled to see you now."

Jason nodded. He couldn't be mad at them, he had no idea what it was like to spend four years off planet only to come home and find that everything has changed. "It's ok." He said angling himself toward his table. "Care to join me for lunch?"

"Absolutely we're starving." Kim replied. She had hardly touched her breakfast, and now that her nerves were gone she felt like she could eat a horse.

Jason led them over to his table and pulled them each out a chair before going to the other side and having a seat. Everyone sat down and he flagged his waitress to come over so that she could take their orders. Jason pushed his menu their way and the waitress waited patiently for them to decide. Once everyone's orders were in she took off, leaving the trio with time to talk.

"So are you getting settled back in? A lot has changed around here since you've been gone." Jason said.

"Yeah no kidding." Carri replied. It felt like all the places she was familiar with had changed, and a lot of Angel Grove had been developed since she left. Inflation had kicked into overdrive and the first time she filled up she joked that she was going to have to take a second job just to put gas in her tank. These little changes around the town took some time to get used to, and what was going on nationwide and worldwide blew both her and Kim away.

Carri was going to discuss her job and the good news she had just learned that day, but the look that came across Kim's face suggested she was going to burst if she couldn't share something soon. Carri turned toward her, curious as to what she had to say.

Kim smiled at her friend first before smiling over at Jason. "I got the job." She said.

"Really?" Carri asked as Jason questioned "What job?"

"I had my five hundredth interview today." She started just slightly over exaggerating the facts. "It was a marketing position with a clothing firm. Ashley Hammond's clothing firm. And she gave me the job."

"Kim that's great!" Carri exclaimed smiling at her friend.

"Yeah that's huge." Jason added. Ashley's firm had taken off over the years. Her designs were popular with everyone, and she had even been asked to do event dresses for Hollywood's elite. Of course the more popular she got the more help she needed, until finally she had a huge firm which included marketing and accounting teams, and seamstresses that brought all her ideas to life plus numerous other positions.

"I know I'm so excited. Working for Ashley is going to be an incredible experience." Kim replied. Working with Ashley aside, if she could do well for her marketing team she could make a real name for herself.

"So Car you going to let Kim support you?" Jason teased.

Carri smiled nervously as she didn't want to share her job and her news for fear of overshadowing Kim's moment. But Kim answered Jason, not giving Carri a chance. "Please she works for her father."

Jason couldn't help but laugh. "What happened to the girl I knew who said there was no way in hell she'd work for her father?"

The waitress came back, sitting drinks down in front of everyone. Carri put sweetener in her iced tea, taking her time to stir it around and try it before answering the question. "First off, I said there was no way in hell I'd be an actress for my father. I'm not an actress, I'm a television hostess and am in charge of a lot of the production which is no different from being a reporter." She said stretching the comparison between the two jobs. "Second, I don't technically work for my father. I work for Ausus Productions, which is in my name. Sure it's a branch off of Hilltop, but it's not the same."

In a way she did still work for her father, but she was going to let that slide. She had just found out that morning that Hilltop Productions was not going to be the company that produced the show. Hilltop had been her fathers company of the last fourteen years. Her father had been a producer and director since before she was born, and was well known in Hollywood. It took a lot to start your own company, and working out of Angel Grove just wouldn't cut it. The area was too full of production companies and her father wanted to start somewhere that he could thrive. Not that he wasn't doing well for himself out in California. As children Carri and Josh had everything top of the line that they ever wanted, including clothes, toys and electronics. When her father got an opportunity to start his own company in New York he moved his family there and created Hilltop, a play off of the Hillard's being on top of the world. And that he was as starting his own company more than tripled his wealth.

That morning Carri received a call from her father saying that Hilltop would not be producing her show. He said that as long as she had the majority of the production rights, she needed to be the one producing it. He created Ausus for her as a combination of who she was, a woman from both Australia and the United States. Carri was baffled at first, she had thought this was going to be a fun little project not a career. After thinking on it for a while she realized that this was opening a door for her, one that could be an amazing opportunity.

Kim pulled Carri's thoughts away from that morning and back into the present. "Since when?"

"Since a few hours ago. My dad just told me that he finalized everything so that the show I did most of the work on is going to be under a company in my name." She said with a smile.

"So when can I see this show?" Jason asked. He was amazed at what his friend had accomplished in the six short weeks she'd been back on Earth.

"I'll be finished with the first episode by next week then dad's taking a look at it after that. Once he's done it depends on who picks it up and when they show it." She explained. "From the premise it's about a ninety-five percent chance that either TLC or the Discovery Channel will pick it up. There are a few other cable networks that want to take a look at it."

Jason smiled and nodded. TLC and the Discovery Channel had both been overflowing with new highly rated cable programing from TLC's What Not to Wear to the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters. If one of those two could pick up Carri's show, it had a shot at being a real success.

Kim leaned back in her seat just as plates of food were being delivered. She smiled over at Jason as the waitress left. "What about you? Have you been doing anything other than riding around the country on that bike of yours?" she asked. He had gotten a motorcycle right after he broke up with Emily. It was his way of making himself feel better, driving down the open road and taking all sorts of road trips.

Jason smiled at her as Carri laughed. "No I believe Jase has been keeping himself pretty busy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked as he finished swallowing a huge bite of his sandwich.

"Zhane and I happened to be on KO-35 at the same time as Andros. He had come with the first book in a series he just finished reading by Luke Kirk and passed it on to us. He had read it because Trini read it and had told Ashley that it reminded her of her ranger days. Andros suspected that a ranger wrote it, and it took one read for me to figure out which one." Carri replied smiling at him. She was eager to read it as that was the only entertainment from Earth she had seen in over a year.

Jason groaned. "You told all the former rangers didn't you?" he asked. He had been trying to keep it a secret even from them, although one would have to imagine that if any of them read the books some of the situations that his hero got into would sound vaguely familiar. Not to mention the parallels that could be drawn between some of the main characters and some of the rangers.

"Hey you know me better than that." She said with a grin. She hadn't really told anybody about it, she had just kept it as her own little secret. She hadn't read any more past the first book, but now she silently vowed to herself to find time to get to the rest of the series.

"Yeah I do." He said giving her a look. That was precisely why he figured she had told everybody.

"I know she didn't tell anybody because I just found out." Kim assured him. She and Carri told each other everything, she couldn't believe that hadn't come up yet.

"Well now you know." Jason said. Kim was right, if Carri had kept the secret from her she had kept it from everyone. The girls were once joined at the hip and could at times agitate him so much he'd want to pull his hair out. With their four year disappearance he found himself missing them in his life, even the agitation they could bring.

There was silence as everyone was working on their lunch. The conversation drifted from subject to subject, none of them too terribly important. Jason was dying to find out details about what happened in space, but now was not the time or place to ask. Instead they reconnected over everything else, and by the time they were finished eating it felt as though they were never gone.

Eventually the food was gone and the bill came, all three reaching for it. Jason snatched it out from under their hands, assuring them that he had it. This was the most exciting lunch he had eaten in a long time, and the least he could do was cover the food.

As the waitress walked away with the money people sitting on the outside of Bulkmeier's café started to scream. The former rangers eyes darted everywhere until they fell on the disturbance. Kim and Carri shot out of their chairs. The only sound between them was that off Kim's chair clattering to the floor as neither knew what to say.

"That's impossible." Kim whispered as the shock started to wear off.

"How... I mean... I don't understand." Jason said as he went to stand beside the two girls. Two members of the group he recognized as Callisto and Goldar. The other two and the warriors he didn't, he could only assume that they were Rita's daughter and the rest of her crew that Kim and Carri had encountered in space.

Carri slowly started to edge toward the small army as the outdoor patrons had already fled and the ones indoors were doing much of the same. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead." She growled.

"Don't you just hate when you kill somebody and they come back to haunt you?" Callisto asked smiling as she played with a small flame ball in her hand.

Kim cocked her head as she smiled. "I guess we're just going to have to kill you again." She replied as she stepped forward to take command.

"Really? Two lone rangers?" asked Rhianna. "Something tells me that two rangers won't stop me from getting my revenge and conquering this miserable little planet that my parents should've conquered long ago."

"Make that three." Jason replied as he stepped forward and stood strong beside Kim. If they were going to fight as Ninjetti's, he certainly wouldn't back down.

"How cute." Callisto replied as she glanced over at Cratus. "Kill them."

Cratus nodded his head as he led the Cirranadrones into battle with Goldar following close behind. Callisto and Rhianna were waiting for the battle to get started before jumping in and trying to do their own damage as well.

"Ninjetti, cougar!" Jason yelled as he transformed into his Ninjetti form. When the girls didn't follow he looked over at them, wondering if something was wrong. To his amazement they had something completely different in mind.

Kim looked at Carri who smiled and nodded. "Planetary rangers power up!" she called as a morpher appeared on the left wrist of both girls. The morphers were circular and the surface of them was silver with silver grid lines. In the center of the morpher was a symbol. For Kim it was a red flame and for Carri it was a white lightning bolt. The girls pushed the two edges of their morpher in simultaneously, causing their symbols to light up. They pressed the symbol in and flew up high in the air, transforming as they went.

When they landed what Jason saw was something he was never expecting. He knew that the girls had done some fighting, and that Billy had thought that they may have obtained morphing powers but he wasn't sure. He didn't expect Kim and Carri to be the red and white rangers standing before him right now. This made him even more curious as to what went on in space, however he didn't have time to think about it as he was being attacked by Callisto's warriors.

Jason found himself covered in these warriors. They were strong, more so than anything he'd ever faced before. He didn't know what they were made of or what powered them, but he did know that one Ninjetti wasn't going to last long in this fight. Suddenly a bolt of lightning came down on the warriors, sending some of them flying back. "Your welcome." he heard Carri call from the side. He didn't have time to register what she did or how she did it before more attacked and he had to quickly maneuver to keep from being defeated.

Kim and Carri were both fighting against the Cirranadrones as Cratus and Goldar were attacking them as well. They had spent a year fighting this fight and they knew how the key players worked and how they could stop them. Mostly for that reason Kim had kept a close eye on Callisto as she and Rhianna started to advance on the action. It was a good thing as Callisto threw the fireball she had been playing with earlier in Carri's direction.

Thanks to Cratus, Carri had her back turned to Callisto and Rhianna so it was good for her that Kim kept an eye on them. Kim tossed Goldar aside and quickly jumped in Carri's direction, holding her hand out to catch the oncoming fireball just seconds before it hit her friend. Part of being the Red Fire Ranger was the ability to manipulate fire, including Callisto's fireballs. The goddess hissed and Kim threw the fireball back at her, then stuck her arm in front of her face and let it dissolve.

Kim stood back to back with Carri as the enemy was closing in, and she quickly decided she's had enough. "Fire Saber!" she yelled the weapon falling into her hands.

"Lightning Lance!" she heard Carri call from behind her.

The two fought the advancing enemies trying to push them back. Kim noticed that even with Carri's assistance Jason was having quite a bit of trouble with the Cirranadrones. In comparison to what they had seen in their previous battles this was a small army, and it would be best for all their sakes if they could just finish this now. Kim held her weapon high in the air. "Fire Saber power up!" Flames engulfed the sword and Kim started fiercely attacking the Cirranadrones, slicing through them easily.

Carri heard her call and she took her lance and used it to knock an oncoming Cirranadrone into Cratus, before powering her weapon up as well. She held the lance high above her as lightning crashed down toward it. The weapon absorbed the strike and Carri immediately turned to hit several Cirranadrones, jolting them full of electricity and sending them flying backwards.

With the girls at full power it didn't take too much longer to defeat the rest of the Cirranadrones, and suddenly they found themselves standing with Jason staring down their four enemies. "What were you saying about two lone rangers?" she asked glaring at Rhianna and holding her sword in front of her, the fire making the blade glow red.

Rhianna laughed as she looked at the red ranger. "Trust me, this is only the beginning." She replied. There wasn't much they wanted to accomplish on this visit to Earth. It took a month for them to pull themselves together and be ready for revenge and another two weeks to get to Earth. Callisto didn't have many Cirranadrones left after their last encounter with the Planetary Rangers. She was in the process of cloning some more but as of right now it was going slowly, not to mention noone had really been at full power since the Planetary Rangers last attack. What they wanted to do was to make sure to get down to the surface to tell Kim and Carri hello. Now that the remaining Cirranadrones were gone and Kim and Carri knew they were here, it was time to get back to the ship they arrived in. "Until next time." Rhianna said as they all took off.

"Shit." Carri cursed as they took off. They were almost certain they were dead. And she and Kim were just getting used to life back on Earth after years of focusing on being rangers. Now regardless of whether or not they wanted to, they were going to get pulled back into the battle. Not that either would ever refuse, if the battle was there they would always step up and fight it.

"Let's go to the Command Chamber." Jason suggested looking at the two girls. He was still in awe over their uniforms and their powers and especially their weapons, but that conversation was going to have to be saved for later as first they would have to figure out what to do with Callisto.

"Yes let's." Kim agreed and the three of them took off for the Command Chamber.

* * *

The trio powered down as soon as they were safely in the main room of the Command Chamber. They looked around in awe as the place looked completely different from the last time they were here. "What happened here?" Carri asked glancing around.

"I recently upgraded the Command Chamber," Billy replied, "but I don't think that's the most pressing question here." Billy was at work when Callisto and Rhianna attacked, but he had received a message from a system he set up that routed alarms of new alien activity to his cell phone. He immediately excused himself and went to the Command Center, only to find two strange rangers and the Green Ninjetti already handling the problem.

"We both spent four years in space each on our own missions. We took on new powers, new responsibilities, all to defeat Rhianna, Callisto and their army. We only came back because we thought the mission was complete." Kim said. She paused for a second before continuing. "We had dozens of rangers at the final battle, all swearing that they were dead, that the threat was over. With their empire collapsed and not an evil figure in sight, we thought they were right. Apparently we were all wrong and now they've come to Earth for us, for their revenge, and for the planet."

Billy took all this in for a moment. There was a lot going on and there was a lot that was going to need to be decided. They would have to form a new ranger team. He could only assume that Kim and Carri would want to be a part of it as this was their mission to begin with. "We'll need to call all the rangers together, get volunteers, figure out powers." Billy said starting to plan out loud.

Carri looked at Billy and shrugged. "Powers are easy. We've got four more Planetary morphers."

"We can't use those." Billy said looking at the two girls.

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked.

"We can't use those for two reasons." Billy started glancing at them. He wasn't aware that Kim and Carri had Planetary morphers, but he was well aware of how the Planetary powers worked. "One, you don't choose the powers, the powers choose you. There have been a lot of rangers in the last thirteen years and who knows who the power is going to pick. A lot of those rangers aren't going to want to go back and if the chosen few won't be on your team, then you won't have a team."

Billy stopped speaking as Kim and Carri glared at him. "What's the second reason?" Carri snapped a little more harshly than she intended. But she had a feeling she knew where Billy was going and she knew she wasn't going to like it.

"Two you are both master rangers, not to mention you both have had training on other worlds. It takes a lot to handle these powers, and I can't say with confidence that the people chosen to be rangers will be able to." Billy finished. "I'll call all the former rangers together and we'll figure out who wants to be on the team. You two can be pink and yellow. I have an idea for powers but I have to go check on something." Billy said quickly as he turned and headed for the door.

Kim was upset and Carri was fuming. As Billy walked toward the door Carri looked around the room. She saw a chair sitting by a console on the far side of the main room. She concentrated on it and with a flick of her wrist the chair flew through the room and smacked into the door, stopping Billy dead in his tracks. Jason was stunned as Billy turned around to see Kim with her arms crossed over her chest and Carri looking like she was about to boil over.

"I did not spend a year in space as a red leading this mission to take orders from some punk teenager who hasn't even had a morpher for a year." Kim said. She didn't have a problem being pink again as Carri didn't have a problem being yellow. They could still be strong rangers from those positions. What they did have a problem with was taking orders from someone not even half as qualified as they were.

"I'm in." Jason said taking a few steps forward and joining the girls. He was going to volunteer anyway, he has been looking for the opportunity to get back into the fight for a long time. However now seemed like a much better time to volunteer than later. "If all else fails I can be red."

Kim nodded as if to say that was acceptable as Carri stopped looking like she was going to explode at any second. If Jason was red at least he'd show them respect as rangers and they knew he had the experience and knowledge to lead. "So then what about powers? We've still got our power coins, can we use those?"

"Not everyone has a power coin." Billy reminded her with a smile. Although it would be possible to reestablish the morphing grid, only two other former rangers had coins and he wasn't sure that their coins would work well with anyone else's DNA. "Actually I was thinking along the lines of another power, one that Zordon spoke of long ago. I'm going to call all the former rangers together, and while we're waiting on them I'm going to check up on these powers. About all I know on them is that you're going to have to go search for them."

"Fine." Kim replied smiling for the first time since they'd been in the Command Chamber. "So where are the rangers going to gather?" she asked. Former rangers couldn't exactly gather at the meeting room at the Hilton and discuss bad guys and who wants to suit up again.

"A lot has changed since you've been gone." Billy started returning her smile. "I spent a lot of time working on an underground facility, which included a large meeting room. With so many people becoming former rangers I figured it would be best to have a place we could meet if necessary." He explained.

"Have you ever used it?" Carri questioned.

Billy nodded. "Once recently. The former rangers got together, as sort of a way to meet each other."

"Let's get started." Kim said as she made eye contact with Billy and gave him a slight nod. Billy smiled at her before taking off to contact the other rangers and research this new power.

* * *

Jason took Kim and Carri down to the underground facility to show them what Billy had created. It would still be a while before they were ready for the meeting as some of the rangers were off planet and would take a while to get there. Jason spent an hour walking the girls around the facility before ending in the meeting room. The room in itself could hold one hundred chairs, and at the front of the room there was some sort of projector screen, a podium, and a small stage.

After they examined the room Jason led them toward and adjoining room where they could close the door and talk in private before the meeting started. The rangers would all start arriving shortly and Jason wouldn't be able to get information out of the girls, not to mention the girls weren't ready to see all the former rangers. As the door shut Jason took a seat at a small table and smiled at the duo. "So what do you think?" he asked.

"I'd have to say Billy did alright." Carri replied with a grin.

"Alright? I'd call it amazing." Kim corrected. Although she shouldn't be surprised, Billy did after all design an entire Command Chamber.

Kim sat and Carri continued standing over her friends. She tapped her foot for a few seconds before heading toward the door. "I'll be right back." She said as she opened the door.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Can't a girl use the restroom?"

"Don't get lost." Jason teased as she rolled her eyes before walking out the door. Once she was gone he turned his attention to Kim. "So...," he let his voice trail off for a few seconds before continuing, "if I'm going to be in on this, I'd like to know what happened while you guys were in space."

"Fair enough." Kim replied as she nodded her head. "As I'm sure you know we started off on separate missions. Carri went with Zhane looking for Callisto and I went with Delphine looking for Rhianna."

"Right." Jason said. The beginning he was well aware of. It was the details after that which alluded him. He knew the girls had met up and found Rhianna and Callisto, and he knew they helped in the battle against the duo which they thought they won.

"Sometime before we met up Carri and I both got training. She was trained on KO-35, while I was trained on Phaedos. Carri has telekinetic abilities." Kim continued her story.

"That explains her display in the Command Chamber." Jason cut in. He was wondering how she flung that chair across the room without hardly moving a muscle. "What about you? Any abilities I should know about?"

"I can fly." Kim said as Jason raised his eyebrows. She smiled at him and explained herself. "Well not really fly. But Dulcea taught me how to tap into the crane. Not only are some of my abilities enhanced, but I can hover in the air and maneuver above the bad guys. And the good guys too if I want to."

Jason didn't have anything to say to that. He couldn't believe that Kim had been trained by Dulcea. It was hard to imagine all that the girls went through while they were gone. When Jason didn't answer, Kim continued.

"After that at some point we ended up with the same contact and ran into each other. That contact led us to the planet Callisto and Rhianna were hiding on. We got our powers after we found them. As you noticed I'm red and Carri's white, then Zhane's green. I can manipulate fire and Carri can manipulate lightning, that's what we were doing on the battlefield earlier." Kim paused and watched as Jason nodded before she kept going. "We fought alone for a few months before we put out a call for help. We were joined by the Alien Rangers, the Novas, Trey, the Phantom Ranger... all of which I led as the Red Fire Ranger. We worked out a plan and I led us into battle. We thought we won and everyone went home."

Jason took a second to digest everything she was saying. Kim had always been a strong ranger, but on Earth she had never had the opportunity to show herself as a leader. Now after four years in space she has not only become a leader, but was in charge of multiple teams in what was perhaps the largest scale battle in ranger history. He could see the small differences in the way she carried herself that suggested she was a leader, a stronger woman than the one that left him. He could even see the changes in Carri as the experience had made her stronger as well.

"I think that about covers it." Kim told him as she smiled.

"In that case." Jason replied not finishing the thought as he smiled at her as well.

As they waited for Carri to come back the two continued to talk and touch on ideas for what was going to happen with the upcoming battle.

* * *

Carri walked out of the bathroom stall and listened as the door clanked against the metal lock behind her. She walked over to the sink and ran water as she put her hands on the edges of the sink regarding herself in the mirror for a moment. She took a deep breath and thought about all the rangers they were about to face, some of which they had been avoiding up until that point. Not that they didn't want to rekindle relationships with the former rangers, but she wasn't sure if this was exactly the time or the place to be running into them again.

She washed her hands and shut the water off, grabbing a paper towel and turning to throw it away. As she headed for the door it swung open, and one of the last people she wanted to have a conversation with walked through. "Hey Kat." Carri greeted flashing her a smile. She heard through the grapevine that Kat was angry with her and she didn't blame her.

Kat was surprised to see her cousin standing there. She had heard through her family that she was home, but Carri hadn't had the decency to call her. Without warning Kat's eyes started to water and a few loose tears fell as she reached her hand back and slapped Carri across the face. "Bitch!" she spat.

Carri stumbled back a few steps and put a hand to her stinging cheek. She knew Kat was pissed at her but she certainly wasn't expecting that.

The tears started falling faster for a few moments before they stopped just as unexpectedly as they started. "I'm sorry." she apologized. "I'm pregnant and sometimes the emotions are just..." she paused and sighed. She wasn't sorry for being angry at Carri, but she shouldn't have slapped her she didn't know what came over her.

"Congratulations." Carri said although there wasn't much sincerity in her voice. She didn't really care because first off she was pissed that Kat hit her, and second she didn't think her husband's genes should be passed on and she felt bad for what that kid was going to turn out to be like.

"What do you care." Kat said coldly.

Carri's fist clinched by her side and the only thing that kept her from hitting Kat back was the fact that she's pregnant. "Look Kat I know you're mad at me but..."

"Mad?" Kat spat cutting her off. "I'm beyond mad. You didn't have the decency to come home for my wedding. To be my maid of honor." Kat was the only one in her family who knew where her cousin actually was. She had Billy send her transmissions pleading with her to come home long enough to be in the wedding, but she hadn't responded to any of them.

Ever since they were little girls they dreamed of the big weddings and being each other's maid of honor. They had once thought that it would be the coolest thing to have a joint wedding. If Carri had stuck around instead of run off on some half assed mission, that might of happened. She knew Rocky wanted to marry her. Kat ended up asking her best friend Marie to be her maid of honor. Marie was a good choice, as they had become close over the years. But nothing replaced having her cousin there.

Carri's parents were angry that she couldn't take a break from her world travels to come to her cousins wedding, but they forgave her. Although they didn't hesitate to tell her that Kat cried about it forever and they weren't sure if she had actually forgiven her. Carri could understand her being angry that she didn't attend the wedding, maybe even angry that she wasn't in the wedding. But for her to have held this anger for so long over her not being her maid of honor? Well Carri was more than slightly surprised.

It was an old childhood fantasy of theirs, one that Carri didn't hold onto. As a teenager she wasn't even sure if she was ever going to get married, let alone be Kat's maid of honor and have Kat as hers. With the strained relationship they had starting in college and Carri's disapproval of Chris she thought she had gotten herself booted out of the wedding party, and she would have never thought Kat wanted her as the maid of honor.

"We hardly spoke after college and you knew I didn't like Chris and you still wanted me to be your maid of honor?" Carri questioned slightly amused by the situation.

"I expected you to be the maid of honor." Kat said glaring at her. "At the very least I expected you to attend my wedding." The anger in her voice came through each time she spoke the word expected.

"Well I was on KO-35 and I didn't exactly get messages." Carri snapped the amusement fading with Kat's continued anger. That was only partially a lie. She had gotten a few messages late in 2003 about Kat wanting her to be in the wedding. She was training during the wedding, and Zhane visited the colony a few times while she was there. He told her Kat was begging her to come back for the wedding, but Carri couldn't leave her training and she couldn't abandon her quest to find Callisto just to appease her cousin. She was sorry she couldn't be there, but to her there was no question what was more important.

"How could you be off planet like that when I needed you here?" Kat asked glaring at her cousin. "It wasn't fair." She said softly as tears formed in her eyes again.

"Fair?" Carri questioned. She took a deep breath and decided she wanted to end this conversation before it went any further. Kat was family and because of that she knew that they'd have to discuss their issues civilly, but there was too much at stake in the rest of the universe at the moment for Carri to even pretend to care about making Kat feel better. "I'm sorry." she said her tone suggesting she was anything but

"Sorry? You're sorry that you couldn't manage to take one day out of your journey to come back for my wedding?" Kat didn't believe her apology and she wanted her to clarify it.

Carri clamped her jaw shut and glared at Kat. She knew her apology wasn't even close to sincere, but she was hoping Kat would let it slide for the moment. Instead Kat dug in on her again on how she felt like Carri's mission was lame and she could have at least made an appearance at her wedding. That was the last straw Carri could take at the moment and she was going to end this conversation and if she couldn't pretend to do it civilly she would do it her way.

"Yeah Kat you're right. I couldn't take one day out of my little space journey to come back for your wedding event of the century. And you want to know why Kat?" she asked her anger rising. "Because I was busy heading to an intergalactic war. I was busy out there fighting so that your peaceful little existence here could continue, so that you could have your wedding and have kids without having to worry about a surprise attack from Callisto."

With that Carri pushed past her cousin and flung the door open, heading back down the hallway. She headed back into the little room Kim and Jason were in, slamming the door behind her and flinging a seat back, plopping into it and crossing her arms as she sat.

"That was a long bathroom break." Jason joked as she sat, trying to lighten her mood.

"I ran into Kat." She growled.

Kim sighed. The last thing they needed right now was for Carri to be distracted by Kat. She knew Kat was more than a little unhappy about Carri not attending her wedding which was held while they were gone. She also knew that Carri's parents must've told Kat she was back in town, and that Carri was purposely avoiding her. She knew Kat would be here today, but she would have hoped that they could hold whatever personal grievances they had until later. She knew Carri knew better, and that her focus was all on Callisto and Rhianna at the moment. She had to imagine that Kat went off on her as soon as she saw her.

Jason noticed the look on the girls faces and he could only imagine what the conversation was about. He attended the wedding mainly because she begged the former rangers to come. He and Rocky were the only two from the Ninja Zeo team there, and Kat had more than once mentioned to them how disrespectful it was of her cousin not to show. If it hadn't been her wedding day, Jason wouldn't have hesitated to let her know which was more important.

"Don't let her get to you. We have more important things to worry about." Jason pointed out trying to calm his friend.

"I'm not." She said the tone in her voice indicating that it was the opposite. Although the longer she sat with Kim and Jason, the more she seemed to calm down until finally she slid her chair up to the table and was ready for real conversation. "So have we heard anything more from Billy yet about the powers?"

"No not yet. Although he should be here soon. It sounds like the meeting room is starting to fill." Kim said. She was anxious to find out what they were going to do about these new powers.

"Good we need to go ahead and get this started." Jason pointed out. There was no telling when Callisto and Rhianna were going to attack again and they needed to be prepared.

"Yes and," Carri started jumping suddenly in her seat. She reached down into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She was surprised that she got service down there, but then again she couldn't imagine Billy would build this facility without a way to contact the outside world. She sighed as she looked at the caller ID and saw her production assistant's name. "Hello?" she questioned picking up the phone.

Kim and Jason turned toward her curious as to why she was taking phone calls when they had bigger things to worry about. They watched and listened to her end of the conversation, waiting for her to hang up.

"Yeah something happened with the new house. I had to get back." Carri said. She paused for a moment before continuing. "Just leave it on my desk. If I don't get to it tomorrow I'll take it home and work on it this weekend." She said. A few seconds later she wished her caller goodbye then hung up the phone as she looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Things were going to be much more complex than they were the first time around.

"What's wrong?" asked Kim.

"Nothing. They just need me at work." She replied as she adjusted her self in her chair and refocused on the situation at hand. Fortunately for her this was her company and her show, so she didn't really work a schedule. As long as the job got done it was alright. It just might mean longer hours and more weekends, but she wouldn't let that get to her. "I'll deal with it later." She added.

Kim nodded as the outside door to the room opened and Billy walked in. "Everyone is here." He informed them.

"So what's going on with our powers?" Kim asked glancing over at him.

"I've got all the details. The powers do still exist. But first let's get a team together and then we can go back to the Command Chamber and I'll go over everything with you before your quest." Billy explained. He knew the team would have questions, and he figured it would be better if he went over everything with the entire team there. Besides a lot of former rangers had gathered and were waiting to get this meeting started.

"Are we ready to do this?" Kim asked gesturing to the side door that led straight to the stage area of the meeting room.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Billy replied as he nodded. "I'll speak first and introduce you two, then you can take it from there." He said looking toward Kim and Carri.

Kim pushed her chair back and stood up, making eye contact with Billy. "Let's do this."

"Follow me." He replied. He waited for a second as Carri and Jason stood, then led the trio out of the side door and into the meeting room. Jason shut the door behind them and leaned against it, allowing Kim, Carri and Billy to take care of everything.

As Billy walked to the podium and Kim and Carri followed, the girls glanced out over the audience and noticed the faces of the former rangers. Sitting on the very end of a row was Zhane, who smiled at Carri when she walked in. Carri flashed him a half smile back before her expression turned into a frown. Zhane sighed. For a meeting this big and Carri not happy, there weren't many things it could be. He was afraid of what they had come to say and he hoped it wouldn't be true, but he knew from years as a ranger to expect the impossible. He tried to relax as he sat back and put an arm around Karone.

Billy approached the podium and Carri and Kim stood off to the side. "Thank you everyone for getting here so quickly." Billy said starting the meeting. "I'm sorry that we're not getting together on better terms, but a lot has happened today that you all need to be made aware of."

Billy continued to speak but neither Kim nor Carri were paying attention to his brief introduction. They were both busy looking out over the audience. Kim spotted Tommy sitting in the second row with four of the younger rangers. She could only assume the rangers were his Dino Thunder team as Tommy motioned for the male in red to take his foot off the chair in front of him and sit up. Looking at him Kim had the first feelings of being sorry she left. She knew he noticed her, but he wasn't looking at her as his attention was solely on Billy.

Carri was looking around the audience as well. She noticed Tommy sitting with his Dino Thunder team, as well as the rest of the people that had been rangers prior to the Zordon wave. She saw Leo and Mike Corbett, who she'd heard had both been a part of a ranger team. She wasn't surprised, she met them both in college and they seemed like they would have made great rangers. There were a lot of faces there she didn't recognize, then suddenly she came across one in the back that she did.

For a brief second Carri made eye contact with Rocky and she felt like her heart skipped a beat. She missed him so much but wasn't sure how to even approach the subject so she hadn't bothered to try. Now that he knew she was back, she was going to have to try and talk to him at some point.

Her eyes drifted away but his stayed locked on her. He couldn't believe that after four years she was finally home again. Rocky was hurt that she hadn't called him to tell him she was back, that he had to find out through a power rangers meeting. But he couldn't be angry with her, he missed her and he was glad that she was here. He watched as all eyes turned toward her and Kim, and Billy stepped away from the podium allowing them to step up and take the spotlight.

"As some of you know Carri and I have spent the last four years in space." Kim started the discussion. "My mission was to find Rita's daughter to stop her from coming to Earth."

Kim paused and looked over at Carri who nodded. "Some of you have had experience with Callisto. We thought she was purified during the Zordon wave, but that wasn't the case. My mission was to find her and keep her from attacking us."

"Our missions intertwined when we learned that Rita's daughter Rhianna was working with Callisto. We went into battle against the duo, as well as Goldar, Cratus and their army of Cirranadrones." Kim explained.

Carri went on to elaborate on some of Kim's points. "I'm sure most of you are aware of Goldar. Cratus is Callisto's head warrior, and Cirranadrones are her Tengas or Quantrons or whatever you want to refer to them as. They are strong warriors clad in black and purple, perhaps either clones of herself or other warriors she knew made partially with mechanical parts." Carri paused and let Kim continue.

"After a year of fighting against them, we finally defeated them and returned home to Earth." Kim explained.

"That was six weeks ago. We had every reason to believe they were dead until they showed up at Bulkmeier's just after lunchtime today." Carri continued.

"We are here now because we are forming a team to combat Callisto and Rhianna and their forces. Myself, Jason and Carri will be members of the team but we are looking for two volunteers." Kim said as she looked over the crowd. Since noone was jumping at the chance she continued. "I know it has been a long time since some of you have been rangers, and I know some of you are too busy with real life to get involved again. But we can't do this with just the three of us, we need two more rangers to make a team."

Tommy sighed. Rhianna was Rita's daughter, and he felt like Rita was his problem. Not to mention Callisto wasn't fond of him and he'd like to take care of her too. Besides his life was still consumed by the rangers, why change that now. They would need a strong team to fight this battle and he was one of the most qualified in the room to do it. Tommy stood and looked at the two girls. "I'm in." He said simply as he made his way toward the end of the row, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from his former Dino Thunder team.

There was silence as everyone in the room was contemplating getting involved as an active ranger again. Rocky stared at Carri as he thought about what being a ranger again would mean. He had his karate schools, but he could get someone to take over the day to day. It had been a long time since he had been involved as a ranger and he wasn't sure how easy it was going to be to jump back into it. But seeing Carri standing there he wanted to help and felt as though nothing else mattered. "Me too." He said standing up and working his way out of the row to go stand with Tommy and Jason

"Then it's settled." Kim said smiling. "Thank you all for coming."

Billy pushed his way back up to the podium and Kim looked at him curiously. "It's going to be a bit of a trek for them to obtain their new powers. I'm not asking for any permanent rangers, but I am asking for a team with powers to help out and fight against Callisto and Rhianna until they get back." Billy was thinking about it, and there was no telling how long it was going to take them to get back. They couldn't afford to risk Callisto and Rhianna taking over Earth while they were gone, they needed someone with powers to watch over the planet.

Leo looked over at his teammates. Per his suggestion the Galaxy rangers had stopped on Mirinoi to grab their Quasar Sabers before getting back to Earth. A sudden meeting of all former rangers was a huge deal, and Leo had thought it best to be prepared. Maya looked at him and smiled and nodded. Damon, Kendrix and Kai thought for a moment before each giving him and approving look as well.

Leo smiled at his team as he stood. "Galaxy Rangers at your service." He said.

"Thank you." Billy said smiling at the Red Galaxy Ranger. "If the ten of you want to come with me, we'll get everyone started in the right direction. To everyone else thank you again. Hopefully the next time we meet it will be under better circumstances."

Carri and Kim continued to stand by Billy as the meeting broke up and some of the rangers found each other to talk. The Galaxy team walked up toward the stage and joined the three male rangers. The girls and Billy went to join them before Billy led everyone back to the Command Chamber so they could get the Galaxy Rangers situated for their temporary work and get the new team their powers.


	3. Power Quest

**Author's Notes:** Few quick things. Two notes for those of you who didn't read the series Ranger Scrolls. First, I didn't use the Turbo powers at all in the Ranger Scrolls. I went straight from Zeo powers to a made up set called Ninja Zeo powers. Which means since I didn't use the Turbo powers I have taken a few liberties (ok a lot lol) with how they actually obtained the powers. The powers themselves are the same but how they get to them is way different.

Second I had Zordon taken from the Power Chamber at the end of the Zeo era and Billy left in charge, so there was no Dimitria or Alpha 6 which is why I referenced Alpha 5 as the robot who worked with both the Astro and Galaxy teams.

Next item. This is kind of chapter 2.5. It was originally going to be part of chapter 2, but chapter 2 got long so I decided to slice it and make the quest chapter 3. I know a lot of you are looking forward to huge Tommy/Kim, Rocky/Carri interactions. Since I broke up chapter 2, in chapter 3 we'll start to see some things between both former couples but chapter 4 is going to be dedicated to interactions between both couples.

This chapter is about the rangers quest to find the Turbo powers and get back in time to keep Rhianna and Callisto from taking over. I hope everyone enjoys and as always I love hearing from everybody.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Power Quest"

Billy arrived with the two teams of rangers back in the Command Chamber. He looked around as the two teams stood together. Kim and Carri were standing at the front of their team, eyes firmly glued to Billy. Billy sighed, he hoped that they would be able to smooth everything out between themselves and the guys or else it was going to be a long, rocky road to defending the planet.

"First, we need to get you guys started on your search for powers." Billy said looking over at the five former Ninja Zeo rangers.

"Just point us in the right direction." Kim replied with a smile. She was anxious to get the powers and get back to start the battle. Although she wasn't sure if she was ready to start the battle at Tommy's side. She knew she would have to see him at the meeting, but she was almost hoping he wouldn't volunteer. She figured she could get her powers, then smooth things out with him on her own time. At least for the moment there were more important things to worry about than her unresolved issues with Tommy.

Billy nodded and continued. "You'll need to go to Eltar to start your quest."

"Eltar?" Carri questioned. "What could possibly be on Eltar that we've never heard of before?" Much like Kim, Carri was pointedly avoiding making eye contact with her former boyfriend. There was so much she wanted to say and she didn't know how to start, plus she didn't think this was exactly the appropriate time to try.

"Zordon kept quite a few secrets. One of them was a set of powers he developed called Turbo powers." Billy explained. "He had left them on Eltar and never thought he'd need them on Earth because he had the power coins."

"How come he never told us about them before?" Tommy spoke up as he took a step forward and stood by Kim. He didn't notice as she shifted uncomfortably.

"From what I can tell, he planned on having the powers brought to Earth while you guys were still Zeo rangers. I created the Ninja Zeo powers long before we actually needed them, and Zordon deemed that it wasn't necessary to bring over the Turbo powers. He left the powers on Eltar for later, but as you are well aware Zordon didn't make it long enough to have those powers sent to Earth." Billy was surprised to read of this entire set of powers Zordon created, and was even more surprised that he had never heard of them before. But perhaps it was a good thing, as they had never been needed until now.

"So then where on Eltar are these Turbo powers?" Rocky asked as he stepped forward as well. It was Carri's turn to shift uncomfortably.

"That I'm not sure of. But I do believe there's someone on Eltar who can help, and will be there to greet you upon arrival." Billy told them.

Kim and Carri shifted a little closer together then inched forward to try and feel a little more comfortable. Kim crossed her arms and looked over at Billy. "So that's it then, we're off to Eltar?"

"Almost." Billy said smiling at her. Although he couldn't pick up any good information on the direct location of the command center, he did find out a little bit of what they'd need when they got there. "Do you all still have your power coins?"

Billy waited as each of the former rangers pulled out a power coin. He shouldn't be surprised that they still kept the coins on them, he still kept his blue coin although he couldn't get any powers from it. "Zordon built a security system for this command center much like the one he originally had here. The power coins are the keys and security codes for the front door of the command center." Billy found that out while they were waiting to start the meeting. If Rocky and Tommy hadn't volunteered, he would have had to ask to borrow their coins. They wouldn't be able to do this mission without the coins.

"So then we head for the command center, use the coins, enter sesame, and we have powers." Carri said trying to clarify the situation. It all seemed pretty simple to her. Much more simple than some of the other quests they had been on.

"Essentially." Billy replied. Getting to the command center may be a little more difficult than that but it was basically the plan. Billy reached over to one of the consoles and picked a disk up. "You won't get the powers or the zords without this."

"What's on the disk?" Jason asked as he stepped forward and gestured toward it. He wanted to step forward and try to keep the girls from fidgeting so much. He could tell it was awkward for them to be standing there with Rocky and Tommy.

"The disk is to access your powers and activate your zords. You'll need to put it in the command center's computer system to get to them." Billy explained.

"The zords are on Eltar too?" Tommy asked as Billy nodded. "So then we can just fly them back?"

"Not quite. Actually I have a carrier spaceship lined up to take you to Eltar and bring you back with the zords." Billy explained. A spaceship was going to be the quickest and easiest way to get the rangers and the zords back. There was a wormhole they could go through to get them to Eltar in a few hours. As for the zords, he could possibly get them back without the ship but that could be a disaster.

Carri couldn't help but smile. "I hope you have a pilot. I mean I did pick up some about spaceships spending practically four years on one, but I don't think I'd let me fly one. Especially if it doesn't have megaship in the title."

Billy reached over to the console and hit a button. "No I have a solution to helping you fly the ship."

"Hello rangers." A voice said from behind them.

The rangers spun around to see Alpha 5 standing there. None of them had really gotten to see Alpha since Zordon was taken from the Power Chamber. From what they had heard, after he was done helping the Astro Rangers he had gone on to help the Galaxy team.

"Alpha." Kim greeted the pleasant surprise in her voice conveying what the rest of the team felt.

"At your service rangers." The little robot replied.

"Great then let's go." Rocky said as he turned from Alpha to Billy.

"Should we meet on the ship in five minutes?" Carri asked. The boys looked at her oddly but she brushed it off. She had been at work that morning and was planning on working that afternoon and she wasn't quite dressed for a quest. Although she was wearing jeans, she had put on nice shoes and a nice shirt that morning and neither made good apparel for running around Eltar and she wanted to be prepared. "Billy can you teleport me home please." She said smiling at the former blue ranger.

"I have a better idea." Billy replied as he smiled at her before walking off. He disappeared and a few seconds later reappeared with a box in his hand. Opening the box to the rangers he revealed five new communicators.

"Great." Carri said as she took hers and clicked it onto her wrist. She paused as she looked at it. It was similar to the one she had when she was younger, but it had been updated. "So then we'll meet on the ship in five minutes?" she questioned, although it was more of a statement as she teleported herself out before giving anyone a chance to protest.

"Five minutes." Kim repeated in agreement as she teleported out behind her. She had changed earlier after her interview, and was just going to hang at the house for a few minutes until Carri was ready only to avoid being uncomfortable around Tommy.

Rocky and Tommy looked at Jason curiously and he shrugged. He didn't know what the girls were up to any more than they did. "Why don't we head for the ship and when the girls are ready we'll leave." He suggested.

Tommy nodded. "Sounds good." He replied. Quickly the boys exited the Command Chamber with Alpha, leaving Billy alone with the Galaxy team.

"Thank you guys for helping out. It should only be for a day or two tops, but we have no idea what they could do in a day." Billy said smiling at the team of rangers.

"It's not a problem." Leo replied. They were always happy to help out whenever they could.

Maya smiled at Billy. "So should we just go spend time on Earth until we see an attack?" she asked.

"Well..." Billy said with a smile as he retrieved five more communicators, handing one out to each member of the Galaxy team. "You guys can go do what you like. I'll page you if there's an attack."

"Our zords are still on Mirinoi. Do you think that will be a problem?" Damon asked.

"There's no indication that Callisto and Rhianna have the capability at the moment to make monsters, let alone make them grow." Billy replied. Although there was really no telling what they were capable of, but it was a safe assumption considering they had just arrived in the Earth's atmosphere.

"Well guys, let's go get settled." Kendrix suggested. Mike had a house on Earth and after his brother volunteered he had let him know that they were all welcome to stay with him while they were on the planet.

"Right." Kai agreed.

"Thanks Billy." Leo said as the Galaxy team teleported out.

* * *

As Kim and Carri arrived on the ship they went straight to find their temporary quarters, ignoring the bridge and their three teammates who were currently standing on it. They weren't trying to be rude, they wanted to take a deep breath and come out when they were ready. They had a long afternoon and after sitting in their quarters for an hour they decided to come out and get something to eat.

They headed out toward the ships small kitchen. "Shit." Carri said under her breath as the realization dawned on her that at least for the moment she was back on synthetron food.

"This is the part of space travel I didn't miss." Kim said sharing her sentiments.

The girls took a few moments to figure out what they wanted to eat, then collected their food and headed into the ship's dining area which was adjacent to the kitchen. When they arrived they saw the three ranger boys sitting at the table already enjoying their own dinners. Kim and Carri stood awkwardly for a moment before Carri was the first to sit, immediately jumping in the seat beside Jason leaving Kim in between her and Rocky.

Rocky glanced at Carri as she sat. He wasn't sure what to say to her or if he should even say anything at all. He didn't think he was going to say what he really wanted to, he wasn't sure how appropriate it was to get into it at the moment. For now, he decided on small talk. "So...," He started not sure where to go next, "are we all ready to get back into the swing of things?"

"Kim and I have kinda been in the swing of things." Carri replied not intending for it to come across as snooty as it did. She wondered what Rocky knew about everything that she and Kim had gone through and the battles they had been in.

"Yes but this is the first time in eight years the five of us have fought as a team on Earth. Things are different than they were for you guys in space and we all have to get used to them again." Jason was quick to point out. Everything had been such a whirlwind since that afternoon he hadn't really got the chance to ask Kim or Carri how they were with Tommy and Rocky, let alone if they could work with them. Besides the information that got passed among reds, he hardly talked to Tommy over the years and only really spoke to Rocky at Kat's wedding, so he had no idea how they felt either. What he did know was for this team to work they at least had to try.

"I haven't exactly been out of the action either." Tommy mused as he took a bite of his dinner. Working with the Dino Thunder team and being a ranger again had been reminiscent of days of old. He didn't know how much the others knew about what he was doing in Reefside, especially the girls.

"That's right you did have your own team." Kim replied politely, speaking to him as though she were talking to a distant cousin she only saw every other Christmas.

Kim's comment peaked Tommy's curiosity. He didn't know how she heard about Reefside or the Dino Thunder team, unless Jason had filled her in earlier. Part of him was surprised to think that she'd even care. He was hurt that she had taken off for space without an explanation, something more than something important came up. He had heard later from Zack who had heard from Billy of Kim's exact whereabouts. For the longest time he thought Kim had flat out left him. He had to admit, once he found out about the quest she had taken off to go on, he was proud of her.

It was weird now four years later sitting in front of her. At the moment he wasn't sure what to say or what to do. His plan was to get his team their powers and worry about the rest of it later.

Carri took her fork and played with the food on her plate before smiling quickly over at Kim, who was doing much of the same. A silence fell over the group as noone knew quite what to say. Jason glanced at his four teammates, all of which were concentrating heavily on the food on their plates and not on each other.

He couldn't help but wonder what went wrong. Before the Zordon wave everything was so simple. They split their time between going to school and fighting monsters, always managing to squeeze in time to hang out with each other. Back then a dinner like this would have meant non stop chatter, with Kim and Carri leading the way and the boys silently groaning about how much they talked all the while enjoying listening to them.

It was hard to pinpoint a spot when everything was suddenly different. He supposed it started with Tommy graduating early and moving away. Jason spent a lot of time with the girls who he still lived with, but things had changed. He spent most of his weekends taking trips on his motorcycle just to get out and clear his mind. The following semester he graduated along with Rocky and Carri. They moved in together and he took off for a while before moving back home and secretly starting on his first book. Kim was around for a bit until she graduated college, then she took off. He had kept up with both girls until they traveled into space, and after that he rarely got to talk to his former team. They were inseparable until they all started breaking off on their own.

Now here they were, sitting in awkward silence and eating dinner, trying to figure out how to be a team again. He didn't know how this is going to work but he was more than willing to give it a try. Not only was he getting to spend time with old friends again, but he was getting a permanent morpher so he was determined to make it work if he had to lock the four of them in a room together and not let them out until they could be decent with each other again.

"I haven't had a morpher in a long time. I'm looking forward to it." Jason said trying to start the conversation up again.

"I am too." Rocky agreed. Although he was looking forward to spending the time with Carri more than getting another morpher. That was the main reason he stood up in the first place.

"It's like riding a bicycle." Carri commented. Although she had been on a mission she went almost seven years without donning another morpher. But once you accepted powers again it was like you never lost them in the first place.

Rocky smiled at her, he was glad that she was participating in a conversation with him regardless of how weird it seemed. She didn't notice his smile as her eyes were glued to her plate. He wanted to say something more to try to get her to open up a bit, but he wasn't sure what to say so he went back to focusing on his dinner for the moment.

Kim finished swallowing a bite of food. "I hope these powers are strong enough." She said to noone in particular.

"Billy knows about Callisto and Rhianna. He wouldn't send us after powers if he didn't think they'd get the job done." Tommy was quick to point out. He had faith in Billy and knew that if he thought they should have Turbo powers, than Turbo it was. Besides he had heard a rumor of the powers before and heard that they were good.

"Billy knows what he's heard. I've been there." Kim replied.

Tommy was a little shocked to see Kim not throwing her trust in Billy but he let it slide. "Maybe these powers will be just as good if not better than the ones you've had before." Tommy knew that they had some sort of powers when they fought Callisto and Rhianna in space, he just wasn't sure what.

"Doubtful." Kim said. She appreciated Tommy's enthusiasm but she knew that the Planetary Rangers were the top rangers in the galaxy, and even if the Turbo powers were good they wouldn't compare.

Tommy tried to ignore her distant responses as they continued eating. It was strange, she answered with a level of confidence that he'd never seen in her before. Not that she wasn't confidant before, but she'd definitely changed. He could tell by watching her and Carri that their experiences in space had affected them. He could only imagine that they were not only stronger people, but better rangers because of it.

Silence took over again and the rangers started to finish their food. As Kim was done she looked over at Carri. "Want to go work out?" she asked.

Carri nodded as she was looking for a quick excuse to get away from the table. The girls cleaned up after themselves and quickly took off, leaving the three ranger boys alone.

* * *

Kim and Carri ended up in the ship's simudeck, fighting as Ninjetti's against putties. They weren't very effective to prepare for combat, but they were good for getting out stress and getting in a good workout. Suddenly the simulation ended, and the pink and yellow Ninjetti's found themselves standing in the middle of the simudeck as the doors opened and Jason walked through.

"Hey." he greeted as the doors closed behind him

"Hey." Kim replied as she and Carri both pulled down the hoods and mouth coverings of their suits. "What's going on?"

"Alpha says we should be at Eltar in a few hours. The rest of us were going to get some rest. I thought you might want to as well." Jason replied looking over at the girls.

"Thanks but we're good." Carri replied smiling at him. In the final hours of their battle in space, they had gone days without sleep. It wasn't an option, and wasn't something they were worried about. That wasn't the only time in either woman's four year adventure that they couldn't afford to sleep. When you had the adrenaline going, it was easy not to notice.

Kim nodded in agreement. "We're just trying to let a little stress out before we get there."

"Sounds good." Jason replied. He started to leave but stopped, he had something else he wanted to talk to them about first. "Where do you stand? With Tommy and Rocky."

"It's... complicated." Carri said and Kim echoed her sentiments. "Neither of us have spoken to either of them in four years. It's just... it's odd you know?"

"Honestly? Not really." Jason admitted with a smile. He didn't know much about either relationship past the fact that as of Kat's wedding Rocky still missed Carri. "Were you on good terms before?"

Carri nodded as Kim shrugged. "I think it may have been just as complicated before." She confessed. With Tommy concentrating on school, sometimes she felt as though she didn't know where they stood.

"Don't worry Jase. The team will be fine." Carri assured him with a smile. At least, she hoped so anyway. However they were all mature adults and they all took rangering very seriously so she doubted any of them would let emotions get in the way of duty.

"Are you sure?" Jason questioned raising an eyebrow.

Carri laughed at him. "Come on Jase have you ever known me to lie?"

"No comment." He replied with a smile. "You will tell me if stuff is going on?" Jason was hoping he'd have a heads up if the team were about to implode.

"You'll probably know well in advance." Kim promised. Jason had always been the girls sounding board on matters concerning his two friends. Although things were different now than they were back in college, as easily as they came back together at lunch she couldn't imagine they wouldn't be sharing things with Jason once again.

Jason nodded. "Alright. Well I'm going to go get some rest." Regardless of what the girls claimed to be able to do, he wanted to be well rested when they got to Eltar.

"Can you resume the program on your way out?" Kim asked.

"Not a problem." He replied. Jason exited the simudeck and started the girls program back up before heading down to his quarters. He laid on the bed and closed his eyes, thinking about the team and upcoming missions as he drifted to sleep.

* * *

A few hours later Kim and Carri decided they were done with the program and they powered down before ending it. Neither felt the urge to rest, so they headed up toward the bridge and spoke with Alpha for a while about the upcoming mission on Eltar. Alpha gave them a little more information than Billy did, although the girls had a feeling he knew a lot more than what he was letting on.

It didn't matter as soon Eltar came into view. The girls used the ships intercom system to alert the male rangers then watched as Alpha landed the ship. A few seconds later the rest of the team stood on the bridge, waiting to see what was next.

As the dust settled Alpha opened the outer doors of the ship. "Let's go." Kim said simply as she turned and walked past the guys and headed for the outer doors with Carri following in beside her.

The three male rangers were quick to join them, and it wasn't long before they found themselves standing on the surface of Eltar. Although it was nighttime back home, here it was a bright sunny morning. The rangers looked around the area where they were standing and were surprised by some of the similarities to their home world.

They didn't have much time to think about Eltar as they were interrupted. "Hello rangers." A voice greeted.

"Phantom Ranger. It's good to see you again." Kim replied with a smile. The male rangers looked at her curiously, they had all heard of the Phantom Ranger but had never actually met him. "I only wish it were under better circumstances."

Phantom nodded. He had been a part of the battle against Callisto and Rhianna and was surprised to hear that they were alive and hovering over Earth. He only hoped that Kim and Carri could be successful in this battle, and he was glad that they had brought a team out to search for the Turbo powers. "Let's not waste any time." He said as he pulled out a small hand held device.

"What's that?" Carri asked looking at it.

"This holds a map." Phantom Ranger replied. "It will lead you to Zordon's command center. There is no way to find it without the map."

Tommy stepped forward to take the map from Phantom Ranger, but Kim was a bit quicker and held her hand out for it. He quickly placed the electronic map in the fire ranger's hands. "It will be a long, hard journey." Phantom said as Kim looked at the device and started playing with it. "Zordon set up the path so that only those who were worthy could find his command center and access its powers. I have no doubt you will be worthy, but I will warn you to be careful."

"Is there anything else we should know?" Tommy asked stepping forward to take command.

"Everything else is on the map." Phantom assured him.

Kim was busy looking at the map and trying to figure out which way to go while Carri was standing beside her glancing at the map as well. Before Tommy had a chance to ask to see it, Kim looked up and pointed. "This way." She said as she looked over toward Phantom Ranger. "Thank you for all of your help."

He nodded. "Good luck and may the power protect you." Phantom said sending them off with some of Zordon's words.

Kim smiled and nodded as she and Carri took off with the boys behind them. It had been a long time since she had heard the phrase "may the power protect you", but it was certainly nice to hear it again. They pushed into the forest until Kim came to a small area that looked like it may be a path. "According to the map we need to follow this." She said as she briefly glanced back at the male rangers

The rangers complied and followed her over toward the path. Tommy couldn't help but wonder why Kim was taking such a leadership position. She was always a strong ranger, but he had never thought of her to be a leader. Yet her she was taking charge of this mission as if she were the red. It was fascinating yet in a way her behavior bothered him, as he was under the impression that he was leading this team. This made him even more curious to know what exactly went on in space, and he knew he would have try and get her to tell him sometime.

There was no point in trying to bring it up now, as she was leading the team down the path. He pulled his thoughts back to the current mission as he followed and wondered what laid before them on their path to Zordon's command center.

* * *

The rangers weren't the only busy ones as back in their home galaxy a lot was happening on the little spaceship that circled their planet.

Callisto walked onto the bridge of the spaceship and approached Rhianna. "The Cirranadrones are coming along quite nicely." She said. They had a batch that was completed just recently and they were working on making more. Of course once they got settled somewhere she would really be able to crank up production, but for now they would take what they could get. Besides it would be just as much fun to send them down and let them toy with the rangers for a while until they got everything up and ready.

"Should we send them to Earth and see how they do?" Rhianna questioned. These were made a bit differently than they were making them before as all of their equipment had been destroyed by the rangers in the attack. They were hoping that the adjustments they had made in the production would make them stronger than before, but there was only one way to find out for sure. She just had to make sure Callisto thought they were ready.

"I'll get them and have them sent to the surface." Callisto replied.

As the goddess turned to walk away, Rhianna called back to her. "Let Goldar take them down. He has been dying to see more old friends." Over the years Goldar's abilities had vastly improved, and although he wanted payback on the Planetary Rangers what he really wanted to do was find Tommy and destroy him. He was thrilled to find Jason with Kim and Carri when they attacked the first time.

Callisto nodded and went to follow Rhianna's order. It was weird working with her and sometimes taking commands from her. She wasn't fond of her parents, but Rhianna seemed to inherit little from them. She had keen sense for battle and strategy, something Callisto thought neither Zedd nor Rita ever had. Rhianna had a delightfully evil streak that compared to that of Master Vile and would have made Astronema jealous.

When Callisto had the wizard age her, she was looking to have an ally. Those rangers had always foiled her plans, and she knew she was stronger when she worked with Astronema. For those reasons she was looking for someone to work with again and who better to choose than the only other person in the universe who would want the former Ninja Zeo rangers dead and Earth conquered more than she did. She had Cratus who did her bidding, but he wasn't exactly help with missions. So when she realized just how smart and evil Rhianna was, she took a step back and let her be technically in charge although both women ran the mission. Although with Rhianna in charge Callisto found herself much less likely to let raw emotion influence her decisions, which was why she never succeeded on Earth before.

Now things were going to be different, this time those rangers wouldn't be able to defeat them. This has been a long time coming, but as the saying goes revenge is a dish best served cold. As Callisto approached Goldar she couldn't help but be excited about the prospect of finally taking out her enemies.

* * *

Kim was continuing to lead the way with the map as the rangers headed toward the command center. So far things had been calm but Kim knew that was about to change as the map forewarned of danger ahead. They continued down the path and came into a small clearing. Kim looked down at the map and realized that something was going on in that area.

"Keep your eyes peeled." She warned as they slowly inched forward while looking around.

Suddenly the ground below them jolted slightly. "This can't be good." Carri said just as the land gave away and the five rangers went plummeting below.

As they hit the ground the trap door above them closed, leaving them in complete darkness. Slowly they stood and started brushing themselves off. "Is everyone alright?" Rocky asked. He was answered with a chorus of yes's as the rangers were trying to figure out what was going on.

Carri sighed. "I don't suppose anyone brought a flashlight." She said not expecting an answer.

"Kim did you see anything about this on the map?" Jason asked looking around to see if he could make her out.

"Nope." Kim replied.

Jason turned toward the sound of her voice. "Any ideas?"

"We should huddle together and move forward." Tommy suggested. As awkward as it was being that close it was the only way to guarantee they could stay together and stay safe while figuring out a way out of there.

"I agree." Kim said. She wasn't that fond of the idea either but Tommy was right. That would be their best chance of finding a way out. "Let's get together and make sure everyone is accounted for then we'll move forward."

Slowly they all huddled up, everyone grabbing onto everyone else to make sure they were there. They inched forward until they hit a wall, then followed the wall until they came to some sort of doorway. Kim put one foot in the doorway and torches lit up, going down the long hallway in front of them. They let go of each other and separated as they glanced down the hallway.

Carri peaked between Kim and Tommy, who were standing at the front of the group. "This can't be good." She said as the lit torches brought to life the warriors who were standing in their way.

"Looks like we're going to have to fight our way through." Tommy pointed out.

"Yeah but we should have a little fun while we're doing it." Kim replied with a smile. She held her hands out in front of her as she yelled. "Ninjetti, crane!"

"Panther!"

The boys watched as they transformed into Ninjetti's. It had been eight years since Rocky and Tommy had used their ninjetti powers, and Jason had only accessed them in the previous day's fight, so all three boys were excited to be able to use them again.

"Falcon!"

"Ape!"

"Cougar!"

With that the trio were ready for action as they all ran to attack the oncoming warriors. Jason felt like he was on an adrenaline high as he fought the warriors and tried to help push their way down the hallway.

For Rocky this was his first time using powers in eight years. Being a Ninjetti made him feel like he actually missed being an active ranger. He had forgotten what it was like to be a Ninjetti and to fight against the bad guys. Now he found himself excited to get to the end of this path to obtain his new morphing powers.

Carri ducked the incoming advances of one warrior and turned to kick him in his back so that he would hit the wall. She smashed the glowing green diamond as she kicked him, and when he hit the wall it was almost as though he shut down. The body of the warrior slumped toward the ground, and he didn't move any more. "Guys get to their backs, hit the diamonds!" she called out to the rest of her team.

"Easy enough." Kim said as she flipped over one and smashed him from behind, shutting him down.

Thanks to Carri's piece of advice, the rangers found themselves with the upper hand in the battle. They were able to easily take out the warriors with their Ninjetti powers, and were slowly but surely making their way down the lit hallway. Of course the farther down they got, the more warriors there seemed to be until suddenly they felt like they were drowning in a sea of them.

The rangers were standing in a circle with dozens of warriors quickly closing in on them. "If anybody has any ideas, now would be the time to share them." Carri pointed out as she looked around.

Kim was about to hover over them and start attacking from the other side. It wouldn't help her teammates much but it would be a start. She decided against it when Tommy came up with an idea of his own.

"What if we split into two teams? One person can work on getting the warriors close enough while the other can sneak up on them from behind." He suggested.

"Sounds like a good a plan as any." Jason replied. He immediately broke off with Kim and Tommy followed, leaving Rocky and Carri to fight together.

Everyone concentrated on the task and hand, and although the beginning was a little shaky eventually both sets of rangers got into some sort of groove and they were taking the warriors out again. As the warriors numbers dwindled, the rangers split up and took on the rest of them. Finally they were left in the center of a crowd of disabled warriors.

"Is that it?" Rocky asked as he looked around.

"Yeah." Kim replied as she pointed. "I think that's the exit."

In front of the rangers was a set of stairs. They walked over toward the stairs as Kim pulled the map out once again. "The fall wasn't on the map but the stairs going up are. I just assumed they were going up outside not from underground." She said.

As Kim continued to look at the map Tommy climbed the stairs and heaved open the door so they could all walk out. He ducked his head out just as he heard Kim call out to him. Tommy caught something sharp and metal rushing toward his head and he quickly stumbled back, slipping down the stairs. He got up and brushed himself off as all the rangers were looking up at the surface. "What was that?" he asked.

"The map says to beware of traps." Kim explained.

Tommy grunted. "Well it's trapped alright."

"I vote we get back to the drawing board and figure out how to get out of here with our heads still intact." Carri said as she went to stand beside Kim to examine the map and look for clues.

"You're probably right." Jason said as he headed over to stand with the girls so he could try and help.

Tommy and Rocky watched as they conferred amongst each other for a few moments before they went to join them so that they could figure out how to get to the end of this journey and get to their powers.

* * *

Leo sat at the kitchen table with his older brother. The sun was rising and both men were up early, and both were enjoying a cup of coffee at the table and the chance to catch up with family.

"So how are you and Kendrix doing?" Mike asked as he smiled at his little brother. Leo had been dating his team's pink ranger since sometime after their mission with the Lightspeed team against Trakeena.

"We're doing good." Leo replied. They had been together for a little over five years. They had both at one point discussed marriage but neither were ready. Kendrix was an upper level scientist on the planet Redinoi, a sister planet to Mirinoi only more technologically advanced. As the red galaxy ranger he was an ambassador for Mirinoi, his job taking him to planets all over the universe. Both loved each other and were engrossed in their jobs, and both were completely happy with where they were at the moment.

Mike nodded with Leo's response. "Are you guys ready to be back in the action?"

"As ready as were going to be." He told him. "Honestly I think the team misses being rangers so it's fun when we get to help out."

"Hopefully it won't be long because you guys are crowding my space." Mike joked.

Leo rolled his eyes and gave his brother a playful shove just as the back door opened and Maya strolled through. "Good morning boys. I didn't know either of you were up yet."

"We could say the same thing about you." Leo replied with a smile.

"Leo you know me." Maya said smiling back at him as she gave him a look. Leo did know her, and for that he shouldn't be surprised that she was up and about already. Maya had voted to sleep outside and had woken up before the sunrise to enjoy nature. She had come into the house to have breakfast and take a shower, figuring by that time people would be up already.

"Yes well..." Leo started but was interrupted by the sound of his communicator going off. Maya walked over toward him as he answered it. "Go ahead." He spoke.

"Leo, Goldar has brought some Cirranadrones to downtown Angel Grove. Get your team and morph and I'll teleport you down to the scene." Billy said quickly.

"I"m on it." Leo replied. He looked at Maya who nodded, then both tore off around the house.

A few seconds later the Galaxy team was assembled in Mike's living room, some looking like they were still asleep. "Are we ready?" Leo asked.

Damon covered his mouth as he let out a yawn and he nodded. Kai gave him a thumbs up as he worked on keeping his eyes open and Kendrix nodded her head. Leo figured they were as ready as they were going to be so he maneuvered his hands as he yelled "Go Galactic!"

Suddenly the five of them found themselves standing in front of Goldar and the Cirranadrones. "Stop right there!" Leo called as they stood staring at him.

"Who are you?" Goldar growled.

"We're the power rangers." Damon replied.

Goldar looked from ranger to ranger. So far none of the voices he recognized. With the way the blue, pink and yellow rangers stood they didn't come across as familiar to him either. Something was wrong here and he wasn't happy about it. "Destroying you will do for now. Get them!" he ordered holding his sword high in the air.

The Cirranadrones were quick to advance on the Galaxy Rangers. The fight started and the rangers realized that the Cirranadrones were much stronger than they would have thought. After getting pushed around for a bit they called on their transdaggers.

This made the fight slightly easier and after increasing their firepower the Cirranadrones were gone. Goldar looked at the ranger team and realized that without a doubt, neither he nor Rhianna or Callisto cared much about destroying this ranger team, they were just in the way. He decided instead of advancing against them he would go back to the ship and see what they wanted to do next.

The rangers watched as Goldar disappeared. "Well that wasn't too bad." Kendrix commented.

"Yeah but he could have been just testing us." Kai replied. It all seemed weird and he was concerned about what was going to happen next.

"Let's check in with Billy then we can head back to Mike's." Leo suggested. The others agreed, and with five flashes of light the rangers were gone.

* * *

Kim led the ranger team up to a small opening between two giant hedges. Carri stood beside her and peaked behind the hedges. "What's this?"

Kim glanced over at her. "Have you ever done one of those giant garden mazes?"

"Crap." She said with a sigh. "Let's do it."

"Wait." Kim urged as she threw her arm out in front of Carri's chest, stopping her from leading the team in. "This isn't an ordinary maze. We need to stick together. And be careful the wrong ways are trouble."

"I don't suppose the map gives us a clear shot." Jason mused. If Zordon left a map to his command center on Eltar, the least he could do would be to help the rangers out and give them directions.

"It has some cryptic hints but nothing helpful. Maybe if we could run it through the computer but for now..." Kim's voice trailed off.

"Here let me see it." Tommy requested. Kim was hesitant at first but handed the map over. Tommy had done a lot of side work in the ranger community besides his stint as a Dino Thunder ranger. He had learned some stuff and he thought he might be able to help. He glanced at the hints that were given. Some of the cryptic hints he picked up on, but not enough to be of any help. "This one has something to do with Phaedos." He pointed out as he handed the map back to Kim.

"Yeah I caught that too." She replied. Working closely with Dulcea had given her more than a little knowledge about all things Phaedos. "Let's just get started."

Kim kept a close eye on the map as Carri slowly entered the maze. Kim stood beside her, trying to be ready to grab her friend in case of any danger. The team stayed close together as they tried to maneuver through. They had found plenty of dead ends, but had yet to run into any trouble. Kim warned them to stay as far away from the dead ends as possible, and as soon as they found one they turned and headed back.

Just as they were starting to think that the maze wasn't that bad Carri turned the corner and all but ran into the dead end there. She heard a clicking noise and went to jump back, just as someone grabbed her from behind and helped to throw her back. As Carri looked up from the ground she saw Rocky standing over her, and spikes shooting out of the wall where she once stood.

"Thank you." Carri said hurriedly as Rocky helped her up. She quickly turned to Kim and spoke. "So this isn't going to be as easy as we thought."

Kim nodded. "No more blindly turning corners. Zordon was smart, he knows how to catch someone who doesn't belong." Kim was almost glad that Carri came close to getting sliced, the team was started to get a bit too relaxed about the maze. Now they'd all bring it back together.

They continued on and worked hard at avoiding the traps that Zordon had set out for those who went the wrong direction. Kim was trying to figure out the best way to go from the map and was helping a little, but they still couldn't avoid coming up on bad areas. Finally they got to a spot that appeared to be a translucent wall, guarded fiercely by animal spirits.

"What is this?" Jason asked as they all stopped and looked it over.

"It's the Phaedos reference." Tommy replied as things started to click. "These are animal guides."

Suddenly Kim realized exactly what it was. These were animal spirits banded together to guard important powers for one of the great beings. They were guarding the turbo powers for Zordon from intruders. Dulcea said that animal spirits would protect things of great importance for those guardians in the universe who were well connected with their powers.

"They're trying to keep out intruders." Kim said as she started to walk toward the spirits. "They'll let us pass."

"How can you be so sure?" Jason asked. He wasn't completely convinced that approaching these spirits was a good idea.

"I just am." She replied not wanting to get into her time spent with Dulcea at the moment. Kim stood close to the wall and the figure of a crane appeared at the forefront.

As she watched a falcon suddenly appeared beside the crane. She turned to see Tommy standing next to her. He made eye contact with her and nodded. He believed she was right. He had vaguely heard of spirit animals as guards before.

Carri sighed as she thought about joining them. However the only person she knew that knew more about animal spirit guides was Dulcea herself, so if Kim was convinced it was alright than it must be. Carri slowly walked up and stood by Kim, watching as a panther approached.

Jason and Rocky were yet to feel comfortable enough, and watched intently as Kim scooted a little closer to the wall. "I think we can just walk through." She said approaching the crane. She reached out and touched the wall before putting a little force behind it, sticking her hand through it. "I'm going in." She said simply.

A few seconds later Kim's entire body went through and she disappeared. Carri glanced over at Tommy, who nodded in agreement to the unasked question. Both rangers approached the wall and stepped through, leaving Jason and Rocky behind.

"What the hell." Jason said with a sigh as he walked up to the wall and watched as the cougar came forward. He quickly advanced through the wall, appearing on the other side with his three friends. "Easy enough." He said looking around and realizing they were free of the maze.

"Where's Rocky?" Tommy asked.

"I think he's still hesitating." Jason replied.

Tommy couldn't help but chuckle as he felt a bit of deja vu. A few seconds later Rocky appeared on the other side. "That never gets any more fun." He said. He hated going through strange walls to God only knows what on the other side.

"Come on guys, let's keep going. The command center should be right up here." Kim said as she walked off and gestured for her team to follow.

They walked until they came to a huge clearing which held a giant gold symbol in the middle. The rangers walked over and stood around the symbol examining it. "So now what?" Jason asked looking over at Kim.

"I don't know the map just says our journey ends here." Kim replied. She glanced over at Carri, who had reached into her pocket and pulled out her power coin.

"Billy said these were the key right?" she asked.

Kim nodded and watched as Carri walked out onto the gold symbol. The symbol was a circle, with the middle looking like an original power coin, holding symbols of all five dinosaurs that the rangers first drew their powers from. Around that on the edges were various animal symbols, which if Kim had to guess they represented animal spirit guides.

Carri walked across the gold symbol, looking at the engravings on it. She paused when she got into the middle, then before anyone could react in a flash of yellow light she was gone.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Rocky asked feeling slightly panicked.

Kim smiled. "I think she accidentally found the door." She pulled out her power coin and walked to the center where Carri once stood, then in a flash of pink light she was gone as well.

"We have to follow them." Tommy pointed out. Door or not, if they needed to be rescued the guys would need to get down there. Tommy pulled out his power coin and watched as the other two rangers did the same. Tommy walked to the center and disappeared in a flash of white light, and was followed by Jason and Rocky who disappeared in flashes of black and red.

When the boys landed they realized they were underground in front of a door, and the girls were nowhere to be found. "I'll bet they went inside already." Jason said. Knowing them they didn't have the patience to wait and started exploring already.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tommy asked as he walked forward and took the lead, taking the rest of the team through the door.

When they entered what they found was a setup similar to their original command center, with Kim and Carri walking around examining it. "What took you boys so long?" Kim joked.

Tommy took a brief second to look around before pulling Billy's disk out of his back pocket. "Let's do this." He was anxious to get their powers and get back to Earth before anything bad happened.

The boys huddled around the console while Tommy put the disk in. Kim and Carri stood off to the side and watched as the command center came to life and the contents of the disk popped up on screen. Thanks to Tommy's knowledge that he's picked up over the years, he was easily able to follow the first part of the instructions and work on activating the powers.

"That should do it." Tommy said putting the finishing touches on the powers. He turned to see a door open behind Kim and Carri, with the room behind them glowing in five soft colors. The girls turned to enter and the rest of the team quickly caught up.

In the middle of the small room was a circular stand made up of five colors: pink, yellow, green, blue and red. The rangers walked around to find their old zeo color and what appeared to be their new morphers sitting there. Kim made eye contact with the team and gave a slight nod. "Time to power up."

Simultaneously the rangers reached out to grab their turbo morphers. As they did bright multicolored lights shot up toward the sky, and when the lights faded the rangers found themselves morphed as Turbo rangers. "Looks like the morphers liked us." Carri mused as they were each checking out their new powers.

"Let's power down and find the zords. Then we can get out of here." Tommy said glancing over his team and their new powers.

"Right." Kim agreed. She didn't want Callisto and Rhianna running around on Earth any longer than absolutely necessary. The group powered down and headed out of the little room and back to the control panel.

Tommy quickly went back to work to see how to activate the zords. He worked fast and furious, and a few minutes later was rewarded as a giant door opened and the turbo zords appeared.

"Cars?" Rocky questioned looking the new zords over.

Carri grinned. "This ought to be fun."

"How do we get them out of here? There wasn't exactly room the way we came in." Jason pointed out.

Kim walked over to the control panel and started to do some research on the building. A few seconds later she had an answer. "We can drive them out." She said as everyone turned to look at her. "There's an underground tunnel that leads to the ship. You couldn't get in from that side, but you can get the zords out from our side."

"Shall we take them for a spin?" Carri asked looking over at the pink ranger.

"Absolutely." Kim replied smiling back at her. The two girls headed into the room and climbed into their respective zords. The rest of the team followed behind them.

After a few minutes of everyone checking their new zords out and getting over the initial amazement of them, the sounds of engines starting filled the room and the rangers were off. Driving back took much less time than walking the quest, and it wasn't long before they arrived at the end of the tunnel. The outer doors automatically opened, and they drove the cars to the ship and loaded them up, before boarding and taking off for Earth.

* * *

Callisto walked onto the bridge of the ship with Cratus in tow. "We have more Cirranadrones ready." She said casually as she approached Rhianna.

"Yes but what's the point of sending them down? Kim and Carri don't seem to be around." Rhianna pointed out.

Callisto laughed. "You've underestimated the ties of the ranger community. If we can destroy the Galaxy team, not only do we prove that we mean business but we'll devastate Kim and Carri when they come home."

Rhianna frowned. "Won't that just give them more of a reason to come after us?"

"Do you think it will really make a difference?" Callisto questioned. They already had enough reasons to try and kill them. This would be just adding fuel to the fire and making Callisto a little bit giddy for the day.

"I suppose you're right. This may be fun." Rhianna replied.

Callisto smiled. "Now you're starting to see it my way."

"Callisto." Cratus started. He waited until the goddess turned her attention toward him. "May I suggest that you send me down with them. I will ensure the destruction of those rangers." He had been dying to get his hands on any rangers since they were almost destroyed a few weeks ago. He didn't care who he crushed, as long as it was one of the good guys.

"That would be a wonderful idea." Callisto said nodding at him. "And perhaps you can take Goldar with you. Maybe he'll actually fight this time." Goldar growled at Callisto then she shot him a look and he backed down.

"Callisto's right." Rhianna agreed. "Go down to the surface and don't come back until the entire Galaxy team is dead."

Cratus and Goldar nodded then the duo took off to collect the Cirranadrones and go back down to Earth.

"Do you think they'll be successful?" Rhianna pondered out loud.

"They will if they know what's good for them." Callisto replied. She walked off to find a good place to watch the upcoming battle on Earth.

* * *

The Galaxy team had split up that afternoon. Billy had assured them that there was nothing to worry about with Callisto and Rhianna other than the usual, and that he would let them know if they were needed.

Kendrix and Leo wondered hand in hand down to Angel Grove Lake. They had never been down there before, and according to everyone who had ever lived in the town it was a wonderful place to bring a date. They had decided on a picnic that afternoon and were sitting on the blanket as the evening hours approached, finishing a bottle of wine and goofing off when their communicators went off.

Leo sighed. This was the one thing about active duty he didn't miss, how bad guys seemed to have the worst timing. "Go ahead."

"Goldar's back in the downtown area with Cirranadrones, and it looks like he's brought a friend." Billy's voice rang through.

"Alright we're on our way." Leo said as he looked over at Kendrix. Kendrix nodded and they both stood, glancing around to make sure the area was clear before morphing. "Go Galactic!"

The red and pink Galaxy rangers arrived on the scene just seconds before the rest of the team. The five of them glanced at the small army standing in front of them. "You came back for more?" he questioned.

"We came to destroy you." Cratus replied giving Leo a cold hard look that would send chills down anyone's spine.

"I wouldn't count on it." Leo replied trying to ignore the stare of the strange creature standing in front of him.

Cratus pulled out his sword and lunged his arm forward before he and Goldar attacked with the Cirranadrones. The rangers were quick to call on their transdaggers as the hand to hand combat began.

* * *

Callisto watched the fight from high above the planet's surface. Those rangers were fighting hard and not giving up, although her Cirranadrones seemed to be a bit tough for them. Of course as everyone had weapons, the fight seemed a bit too fair for her. She wanted to up the odds a bit.

She was working on increasing Rhianna's magical abilities so that she could have the same if not better powers that her parents did, including the ability to make things grow. But with the destruction of their palace and the unexpected trip to Earth, she was a bit behind schedule. Fortunately she had picked up on some things from her days as Astronema's friend, and could work the ships systems to do the dirty work for her.

She wanted to make Cratus grow. He could just stop the Galaxy team from there. Callisto knew that their zords were on Mirinoi and that there was no way they would get there in time to save them. It was the perfect plan. Callisto smiled at herself as she adjusted the lasers and fired them down to the surface.

* * *

The new Turbo team arrived back in the Command Chamber a few hours after they departed Eltar and were immediately greeted by Billy. "Great you're here." He said flashing them a smile and pulling up images on screen. "The Galaxy rangers are fighting your friends down on the surface but it's a tough battle. They need some help."

"Well then let's fire these powers up and see what they can do." Carri said as she smiled over at Billy.

"Shift into turbo!" Tommy yelled. The team wasted no time jumping into their first morph and running to the aid of the Galaxy rangers, who had been kind enough to protect the planet while they were gone.

"Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!"

"Desert Thunder Turbo Power!"

"Dune Star Turbo Power!"

"Wind Chaser Turbo Power!"

"Red Lightning Turbo Power!"

The five members of the new Turbo team appeared behind the fight in downtown Angel Grove. They glanced over at the chaos in front of them and decided to dive right in. As the rangers ran toward the scene, the ground rumbled beneath them as a beam shot through the sky, hitting Cratus and causing him to grow to city wrecking size.

"The Galactabeasts will never get here on time!" They heard Maya point out from the crowd.

"Don't worry I think we've got that handled." Tommy said from behind them. The Galaxy rangers spun around and to their surprise saw a second team of rangers standing there. "We need Turbozord power now!"

The five Turbozords arrived out of nowhere and the rangers jumped into them. "Ready to bring them together?" Kim asked from her zord. She got a chorus of ready's in reply.

"Turbo megazord morph sequence, online." Tommy called across the comm system.

"This is awesome." Carri said as she absolutely loved the car zords. She started the sequence to transform her Dune Star Zord as she spun around and connected with Jason's Desert Thunder zord.

Quickly the two zords became connected to the Mountain Blaster and Wind Chaser Zords, which had connected earlier. To finish the sequence, Tommy's Red Lightning Zord pulled up the back of Mountain Blaster and the megazord stood up.

"Alright Cratus let's end this." Kim said as she looked through the cockpit of the zord and at one of her enemies.

The fight started out as hand to hand combat before Cratus brought out his sword. The rangers called on the saber and the shield of their megazord and fought back. After a long battle, the megazord got an edge as it blocked Cratus's shot with it's shield while slashing him back. Cratus hit the ground with enough force to shrink him back down to his normal size.

The rangers jumped out of their zords and back into the city streets. They ran into the fight and helped the Galaxy rangers take down the rest of the Cirranadrones. It wasn't long before all ten rangers were standing face to face with Goldar and Cratus.

"You guys want to take on all of us?" Carri questioned almost hoping they'd say yes. Neither had any reply as they both teleported off. "Well that was no fun." Carri said.

"Come on, let's get back to the Command Chamber." Tommy said. In flashes of multicolored light, the ten rangers teleported off.

* * *

Callisto was furious as Goldar and Cratus appeared on the bridge of the ship. "I sent you down with one simple task and you failed me."

"If destroying rangers were easy Lord Zedd and Rita would have done it years ago." Goldar pointed out.

Callisto used her powers to fling him across the room and smash him into the wall. "You don't speak to me like that." She warned as he pulled himself to his feet. "I don't know what we're going to do about those turbo rangers."

"They're just rangers. We'll destroy them just like we'll destroy their friends." Rhianna pointed out trying to calm the goddess down.

"They're not just any rangers. They're the Ninja Zeo team. They're the ones I came to destroy. Now they're back together again with powers." Callisto was quick to point out. She thought for a moment then continued. "This time things are going to be different. This time they won't make it out of this alive."

* * *

The ten rangers arrived in the Command Chamber and simultaneously powered down. Tommy walked up to Leo and smiled. "Thanks for helping out while we were gone."

"No problem. It's always fun to be active again." Leo replied. Which was the truth, although he didn't know if he'd do it full time. "Well we had better get back to Mirinoi, return the sabers."

"Well we're here now so..." Tommy let his voice trail off as he gave a slight nod to Leo, as if to say it was alright for him to take off.

"If you ever need help again, just let us know." Leo said as he smiled at them. The rest of the Galaxy team said their goodbyes then they took off, going to put the saber's back and get back to their normal lives.

"So now what?" Rocky questioned.

"Now it's the same as usual. We go back to our normal lives until they attack." Billy replied.

"Good because I have a lot of work to do." Carri said as she quickly teleported out, trying to avoid any team bonding time.

Kim couldn't believe that Carri just took off on her like that. She wanted to go home and strangle her for leaving her alone. Instead she thought up her on excuse so she could teleport out as well. "Yeah and I have to prepare some things for Monday." She said and in a flash of pink light she was gone.

"That went well." Jason muttered. Tommy and Rocky shot him a look and he gave them a smile. "I have some work of my own to do." He told them. He certainly didn't feel like having a discussion with Tommy and Rocky about Kim and Carri at the moment. "I'll talk to you guys later." He said as he teleported out.

Tommy sighed as Jason left. He had a lot to think about if he was going to be doing this full time again. They were in the middle of a school year, so he was going to have to get someone to help cover his classes. He imagined since it was ranger related, Anton would help out and Principal Randall wouldn't mind. He also didn't know what he was going to do about his home in Reefside. He was the only ranger who didn't live in Angel Grove, and it may be helpful for the fight if he temporarily moved back. He loathed to give his house up as he had put a lot into the home as well as the command center below it. He had a lot to do and a lot to think about, and a short time to do it in. "I'm heading home." Tommy said as he teleported out.

Rocky also had work of his own to do as his schools weren't going to run themselves when he was busy being a ranger. He said his goodbyes to Billy then teleported out, leaving the former blue ranger alone in the Command Chamber.

Billy shook his head as all the rangers teleported out. It had been a long time since they had fought together, and he hoped that they would be able to do it again. He knew a lot had changed in eight years, but they were going to have to put all that behind them if they were going to defeat Callisto and Rhianna. Whether or not they could put everything behind them he would worry about at a later date. For now, all he was concerned with was getting back to work and finishing stuff up so he could get home to his wife. Billy teleported out of the Command Chamber, leaving the Turbo Ranger's base empty for the moment.


	4. All Apologies

**Disclaimer:** Quick reminder. There is a mention to the Novas, and those still belong to KSuzie, not me. Most characters belong to Disney. If you don't recognize a character from the Power Rangers series, then it belongs to me.  
**Author's Notes: **Jessica McCaffery is actually Jessica McClintock from Ranger Scrolls. Appearently there is a real Jessica McClintock who is a designer. My apologies to her, I just made it up. So any references to Jessica or Stephanie McCaffery are references to their characters Jessica and Stephanie McClintock in Ranger Scrolls.  
This chapter is all about relationships and starting to mend ties. I hope everyone enjoys it. As always I love hearing from you.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"All Apologies"

Carri wondered out of her bedroom early Sunday morning. She headed out into the kitchen and saw Kim sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee. Carri went to fix her own cup before sitting down next to her.

"Shit." Carri said as she collapsed in the chair. Kim gave her a look. "I forgot the sugar." She said as she looked over toward the kitchen counter. She saw the packets of sweetener and floated one toward her, grabbing it when it got close and ripping the top off, putting it in her coffee.

"Lazy." Kim accused with a smile.

"Practicing." Was Carri's one word defense. Kim grinned and had nothing else to say as she practiced her abilities as well. Carri had more than once come out into the living room and caught her levitating over the couch while she was watching tv.

"Any plans for today?" Kim asked glancing over at her friend.

Carri shook her head no. "I'm all caught up." She replied. After spending Thursday afternoon and most of Friday dealing with Callisto and Rhianna's return and having to get new powers, Carri had spent most of Friday night and all of Saturday locked up in her office at home doing work. Some stuff had to get done and she figured at least spending her weekend locked up at home was better than spending it locked up in her office in the building where they produced her show.

Kim nodded as she clicked her nails on the table. There were things that happened recently that neither had addressed, mainly because Carri was concentrating on work and Kim wanted to wait until they could really talk. She sighed and looked up at her friend as she posed the question. "So, what are we going to do with Tommy and Rocky?"

Carri let out a long sigh of her own as she thought about the answer. They had managed not to address the question yesterday, but today it couldn't be avoided. "Honestly? I don't know. We need to make amends somehow though. Jason's right, if we're going to be a team we're going to have to act like it or else we'll get ourselves killed."

They had done alright with the first mission to retrieve their Turbo powers, but Kim and Carri tried their hardest to pretend Tommy and Rocky weren't even there. And when they did have to speak to or deal with them, they had found it more than a little awkward. Who knows how long it's going to take to defeat Callisto and Rhianna, and they didn't want to spend all of their missions like that.

"Maybe we should talk to them." Kim suggested. "At least I know I should go talk to Tommy." She added.

"Yeah I need to talk to Rocky. It's just, I have no clue where we stand." She said as she took a sip of coffee.

"Do you still love him?" Kim asked.

Carri gave her a look as she sipped her coffee before setting the cup down. "Do you still love Tommy?" She asked, answering Kim's question with one of her own.

Kim nodded, the point gotten. Through everything that happened in the four years while they were gone they both still had feelings for the men they left behind. Whether or not they would be able to forgive and forget, be able to let them back in, was another story entirely. At the very least they wanted to be friends again, and Kim figured that the boys would give them that, if not for themselves then for the team.

"I'm going to go see him." Kim said simply.

"Today." Carri questioned looking over at her friend.

Kim nodded. "I'm going to get dressed and then I'll take a cab to Reefside." Kim was going to have to go online to find Tommy's address and directions to his place, but she didn't think it would be that difficult. Then she would go pay him a visit so they could air everything out. He should be home on a Sunday afternoon.

Carri shook her head no. "Take my car."

"I can't. Unless you're planning on locking yourself inside all day." Kim said. She was gracious for the offer but she couldn't take her friend's car and leave her with no means of transportation.

"I'm just going to go talk to Rocky." She said as she smiled at Kim.

"See you'll need your car." Kim pointed out.

"You're taking it and that's final." Carri said, the tone of her voice suggesting she wasn't taking no for an answer. "The cab fare to Rocky's apartment in Angel Grove is going to be much cheaper than you trying to take a cab all the way to Reefside."

"At least let me pay for the cab." Kim felt bad that her friend was going to take a cab when she had a perfectly good car. Kim was excited about starting work tomorrow. Eventually she would be able to get a car and a place of her own and pay Carri back for the generosity she'd shown her over the past six weeks.

"How about this. You pay for the gas you used and we'll call it even." Carri said smiling at her. She knew Kim didn't have a whole lot of money, only what her father had sent to help her out until she could get back on her feet. She felt horrible about taking any from her, but she knew Kim hated feeling like she was taking advantage of their friendship by using her car and staying in her house. That was far from the truth, Carri loved having Kim around and she had enough money that she could care less if she ever saw a dime from her. But if it would make Kim feel better by reimbursing her somehow, she would let her.

"Deal." Kim said, glad that Carri had caved on something. Kim took the last sip of her coffee and put the cup down. "I'm going to get ready." she said as she stood. She walked the cup to the sink and headed back to her bedroom for a shower.

Carri pushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face as she watched Kim walk away. She clicked her nails against her coffee cup and stared down at it's contents as if it could tell her something. She shook her head at herself. In the last four years she had done so much that could be considered new and exhilarating, even dangerous and yet the thought of going to talk to Rocky made her more nervous than any of that ever had. She sighed as she finished her cup of coffee before heading into her bedroom, leaving the kitchen quiet.

* * *

An hour later Carri found herself stepping out of a taxi and in front of a small apartment complex in a quieter area of Angel Grove. She paid the driver and stood as he pulled off, leaving her there alone. Crossing her arms, Carri forced herself to take a few deep breaths as she stared at the building. "It's now or never." She said to herself.

It was another awkward minute standing in front of the building before she could actually put one foot in front of the other and move toward it. She walked to the side of the building and up the stairs, searching for apartment K. Finally she came across his unit and stood in front of the door. When she felt like she was ready, she knocked.

She heard the sounds of someone walking too the door, pausing for a second before opening it. "Carri?" Rocky questioned, genuinely surprised to see her standing there. He wasn't sure what was up between them after their mission.

"Hey." She said softly, making quick eye contact and flashing him a smile. "I was hoping you had some time to talk."

"Yeah, sure. Come on in." He said as he opened the door and gestured for her to enter.

Carri walked in and looked around the apartment. It was a bit smaller than the one they shared together so many years ago but it was nice. She recognized some of the furniture as belonging to them, such as the dining room table and chairs that was their first purchase together for their apartment. She was glad to see that he had kept some of their things. What was solely hers had been given to her parents when he moved, and thrown into a storage unit in Angel Grove until she got back. Some of what used to be hers she had kept, but most of it she'd sold in a yard sale shortly after she got the house, putting the money back into new furniture and other house items. It was nice to see some of their old stuff was still getting some use.

"Have a seat." Rocky said as he nodded over toward the couch. He went into the kitchen and watched as she took a seat on the end of the couch. "Do you want anything to drink?" he asked opening up the fridge. "I've got some soda and some beer and some juice in here."

"No thanks." Carri replied although a beer might be what she needed to take some of the edge off. However being Sunday morning she figured it was a bit too early to toss one back.

"Are you sure." He questioned grabbing a soda for himself.

"Positive." She replied.

"Alright." He said as he shut the door to the refrigerator and walked over to the couch, sitting on the opposite end as Carri. He smiled at her and waited for her to speak, he was curious as to what she wanted. She took a deep breath and didn't say anything. "So..." He said trying to get her talking.

"So." She replied flashing him a smile. "I wanted to come by because the other day was kind of weird. And if we're going to be working together again there's a lot about the last four years that needs to be said."

Rocky smiled and nodded. He couldn't agree more. "We used to have something amazing, I hate for us to be weird around each other." He hated for them to not be with each other, but that was something for another time.

"About what happened, me leaving, I'm sorry." She said. Rocky started to open his mouth but she held a finger up stopping him. "I'm not sorry about trying to stop Callisto. But from the day I left I was sorry about leaving you."

"It's alright. I was never mad at you." He assured her. Carri looked at him strangely as she couldn't believe that he didn't hate her for leaving him for four years like she did. Rocky smiled at her. "Did you ever see the tape?"

"What tape?" she asked giving him a more curious look than she had before.

"The one that Zhane left with Billy before you guys took off." He replied. She shook her head no and he continued. "I talked to Billy after you left, I wanted to know what he knew, and what exactly was anything going on. He showed me the tape with the information on it that Zhane collected, the entire reason he came to Earth in the first place."

Carri had only heard from Zhane bits and pieces of the information he had. Where Callisto was concerned, it didn't take much for Carri to want to find her and kill her. She had never seen any of what he brought with him and she had never cared.

Rocky took her silence as a no and continued. "Callisto was trying to perfect an army to come after you. She made it known in the evil realm that she was going to kill everyone and everything that ever meant anything to you while you watched, starting with me and then the rest of the team before going after your family and causal friends, and finishing by destroying the planet and finally you. I knew you wanted to get her before she came back here after everyone. But after seeing what Billy showed me I realized you felt like you had to do it to save us. Yes it hurt everyday to know that you were lightyears away, but I knew there was stuff more important than us out there."

Carri looked up at the ceiling for a moment. She didn't know what to say, she never really knew if Rocky understood why she did what she did. To know that he did made her feel worse about being gone so long. "I never meant to be gone four years." She said finally glancing back down at him. "We couldn't find her. I spent a year looking for her, then I took a year training on KO-35 to help me in my search. I'm a black belt now." She said with a smile before she continued. "It took me another year after that to finally get a valid lead. That's when I met up with Kim."

"So that's when you found powers and joined up with other rangers to fight Callisto?" he asked when she paused.

"Something like that." She replied giving him a smile. "In all actuality the powers found us. Kim, Zhane and I are Planetary Rangers, part of the most powerful ranger team in the galaxy. Kim leads as the Red Fire Ranger, and I'm second as the White Lightning Ranger. The other teams of rangers we worked with came to us to help us in our fight. Kim led the entire group of us. It was amazing what we did." She paused as she shook her head. "We should've finished it then. We shouldn't have assumed she was dead. Dammit I should have looked for body parts or something so we wouldn't be here right now."

Rocky was busy absorbing what she said about the powers she possessed. He couldn't believe that his girlfriend was one of the most powerful rangers, second only to Kim, and was standing in the front of this huge attack. He could only assume that training on KO-35 and being the white ranger was what made her the woman sitting in front of him right now. The one who was blaming herself for Rhianna and Callisto being here on Earth.

Against his better judgement, Rocky scooted closer to her and put a hand on her arm. "Hey I'm glad you're here." He joked trying to get her to smile.

She half smiled as she rolled her eyes. "That's not what I mean and you know it."

"There was no way you could've known. I wouldn't worry about it, you've got us with you now we'll take care of it." He promised.

She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Yeah I suppose." She replied. It was hard for her feeling like there was something she should've done better six weeks ago. "Anyway enough about me. How have you been?"

"Good." He said flashing a smile in her direction. "I got this apartment. I've opened two more schools, one in LA near our old hangouts and one in Stone Canyon. The Angel Grove one is still my pride and joy though. Although thanks to the rangers I may have to get someone to take over the rest of my classes. I'll just stick to running them."

"You didn't have to get involved you know." She told him. She felt bad, as though he was giving up his dreams to be a ranger again. There were plenty of other former rangers there, one of them would have volunteered.

"You needed help. There's no way I would've said no." He replied.

She glanced over at him and caught his eyes with hers. She could feel her heart flutter as she remembered that his eyes were one of her favorite things about him. Quickly she turned her gaze so she wouldn't be tempted to do something stupid.

"What about you? How have you been doing since you got back?" Rocky asked. He was trying to restrain himself and continue to make small talk but it was hard.

"I have a house, a car, a company." She paused watching as he raised an eyebrow. "I own Ausus Productions. It's a branch off of dad's company. We're working on a pilot for a travel show and hopefully it's going to get picked up." Carri stretched her arm out as she spoke, accidentally grazing his leg with her fingertips.

"Carri that's amazing." Rocky replied putting his hand on her knee without thinking about it.

Carri glanced at his hand then looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah it is pretty cool. It's a lot of work, I'm doing some production and some hosting, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun." She adjusted herself, unintentionally moving a bit closer to him.

"I can't wait to see the final product." He replied smiling back at her.

"Maybe I can give you and advanced viewing when it's done." She said leaning a bit closer to him.

"Maybe." He replied. He glanced into her eyes and realized that they were now only inches apart. Against all his better judgement he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. A few seconds later he jolted back. "I'm sorry I shouldn't be doing this. I don't know what came over me."

Carri focused on his face, which was still close to hers, before she pulled him in and they locked lips once again. For a few seconds she was oblivious to everything around her and she felt as though everything was back to normal. That was until she heard the front door slam.

"What the hell is this?" A woman's voice yelled.

The pair quickly jumped apart as Carri spun to see who was yelling at them. Her jaw dropped as she realized she recognized the woman. She was older than the last time she saw her, but there was no denying that it was Jessica McCaffery standing in front of her.

"I came to surprise you and I find you locking lips with that bitch?" Jessica questioned seething. "The same bitch that broke your heart four years ago because some stupid worldwide journey was more important than you?"

Carri didn't know what she had gotten herself into as she jumped up off the couch and stood in front of Jessica. What she did know was that in about three seconds she had gone from blissful to defenses up and ready to go. "Look I don't know what's going on here. I just got back in town and I wanted to see Rocky but obviously this was a mistake."

"You want to know what was a mistake? Him being with you." Jessica said and watched as Carri's jaw tightened. "Over the last two years I've treated him better than you ever did."

Carri's fists clinched and she took a few deep breaths to keep from physically mauling the woman standing in front of her. "I'm leaving so you don't have to worry about it." She said. She briefly glanced over at Rocky who mouthed an apology. She wasn't in any mood to hear it as she turned to walk off.

"Hey!" Jessica exclaimed grabbing her and shoving her back. Carri paused and looked up at her, then without warning Jessica took a swing at her, clipping her in the jaw. "Don't you ever come near him again bitch."

Carri stumbled back a little and put a hand to her face. She was past the point of being tired of the name calling and getting yelled at by Jessica. She stood strong and glared at her. "I didn't know you were dating so I'm sorry." She said harshly as she looked at her. She paused for a second before continuing. "I know you're pissed, I would be too if I was in your shoes so I'll give you that hit. But don't ever raise a fist to me again." She growled.

Jessica cocked her head, taking Carri's words as some sort of challenge. As Carri walked by, she went to hit her again. Carri quickly blocked the shot and then hit her square in the nose, watching as she fell to the floor with blood gushing everywhere. She stepped over her and headed out the door, slamming it behind her.

Quickly she headed down the stairs and toward the front of the building. When she was clear of his apartment she leaned against the wall for a moment. Part of her felt vindicated getting to punch Jessica after years of wanting to. There was a greater part that felt as though Jessica was getting the last laugh as the man whose arms Carri ached to be in was sitting up there comforting her.

Frustrated Carri decided she needed someone to talk to. With Kim in Reefside she turned toward the only other ranger she was close with, pulling out her phone and walking off toward some of the shopping areas near the complex.

* * *

The trek to Reefside wasn't bad. Kim found it harder to find Tommy's house in the middle of nowhere than the town itself. After driving around for a while she finally came upon his driveway. She pulled the car up and cut the engine off, and remained sitting there staring at the house.

She didn't know what to expect by showing up on Tommy's doorstep. She could only assume he would let her in as they were both working on the same team now. Tapping her fingers on the steering wheel she continued to glare at the front door. Finally she came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to get anywhere by sitting in the car and staring.

Kim climbed out of the car and shut the door. She paused for a second as she waited for her legs to stop shaking. Taking a deep breath, she headed up the path and toward the house of the Red Turbo Ranger. Kim walked up to the front door and rang the bell, waiting for someone to answer. She knew Tommy was home as his black jeep sat in the driveway. Finally the door opened and he stood on the other side, giving her somewhat of a smile.

"Kim, hey, is something wrong?" he asked assuming that the only reason she would be standing on his doorstep would be because communications were down and she needed something ranger related.

"No. At least, I don't think so." She said flashing him a quick smile. She'd know shortly if something was really wrong or not. "I just wanted to come by and visit."

Tommy wasn't sure what she meant by come by and visit, but he figured he'd play along and see what was up. "Great. Come on in." He said opening the door wider and extending her an invitation.

"Thanks." She replied as she stepped into his home, watching as he shut the door behind her. She peered around his house checking it out. "This is a beautiful place you have here."

"Would you like a tour?" he asked looking over at her. She smiled and nodded and he took her around the house, showing her all the rooms. They made small talk with her commenting on the decorating stiles and the way he set the house up.

As they finished the tour Kim smiled at him. "This is really nice."

"You haven't seen the best part yet." Tommy replied, walking over to reveal a trap door in the floor. He led her downstairs and into his command center. He was very proud of it, especially after his entire team had helped him rebuild it once it was destroyed. "This was the center of operations for the Dino Thunder team."

"Wow Tommy you did all this?" Kim asked.

He shrugged. "I had some help."

She knew that he was involved in the rangers still and had his own team, but as much of a ranger as he was it was hard to believe that Tommy Oliver had a complex command center for a basement. "You don't need us you can sit down here and monitor for attacks." She commented.

"If I had time." He mused. When his Dino Thunder team was active he constantly monitored for attacks with Hayley's help. Now he was too busy and it was just as easy to let Billy's more complex monitoring system do it.

"I think it's great that you've still been involved with the rangers over the years." She said casually. If anything that was the one thing she knew they still had in common.

"I've tried to keep up with everything that's been going on around the galaxy, help out when I can." Tommy said pausing for a moment. "I think with Callisto and Rhianna I'm about to get consumed by rangering again."

Kim nodded. "She consumed the last four years of my life. It's going to be a tough battle."

"Anything in particular we need to worry about?" Tommy asked leaning against a console and looking over at her.

Kim took a seat on a stool before answering. "She's worse than her parents combined and she still hasn't gained her full powers. I don't know what Callisto has in store for her or what she's going to be capable of. That's what worries me the most."

"That one day her powers will erupt and we'll have an enemy worse than all the ones we've faced combined." Tommy finished. He sighed as she nodded. "I'd like to know what happened while you were gone. If we're going to defeat them, I'm going to need to be on the same page as you."

Kim nodded. He was the teams red ranger, and on that level he had every right to know the entire story with Callisto and Rhianna. Of course she also wanted to make amends with him, so on a personal level she wanted to disclose everything that happened in the past four years. "I guess it all started when I ran into Delphine on Earth. She spoke of Rita and Zedd's daughter and came to warn us. I wanted to help search for her so I returned with Delphine to Aquitar. I spent a year searching with no luck. Then I got word from Dulcea that she wanted to see me, so it was off to Phaedos."

"Was that how you knew about the animal spirits on Eltar?" Tommy asked. Bits and pieces were starting to make sense.

She nodded and continued. "Dulcea trained me. I learned a lot with her in a year before I returned to Aquitar. Then the search continued. Finally I found a real lead and that's when I met up with Carri and Zhane. The three of us found Callisto, Rhianna and their crew on a distant planet. We used powers Dulcea had given me in order to try and fight against them. We became Planetary Rangers."

"What?" Tommy questioned in disbelief. He had heard of those powers, and he also knew that they were very prestigious and much like the dino gems, the powers picked their owners not the other way around. He also knew that there was nothing in the galaxy to compare to these powers, which was probably why Kim was so concerned about the Turbo powers. "So are you the Pink Wind Ranger?"

Kim shook her head no as she had a smug smile on her face. "Actually I'm the Red Fire Ranger. Carri's the White Lightning and Zhane's the Green Terra."

Tommy cocked his head and looked at her with a new sense of respect. Her being red made their entire mission on Eltar make sense. He couldn't believe she had been tapped for those powers but he was proud of her for it. He always considered her a leader, a strong ranger, and she could certainly be a red. Now here she was not only a red, but probably the most important red in the galaxy. "So then the three of you took them on?"

"For a while. No matter how much power we had though, we couldn't compete with them. We tried stealth tactics, which worked, but they weren't going to take down their empire and we wanted to hit them hard and fast. That's why we called for help. We had responses from all over the galaxy such as Trey, Phantom, the Aquitarian Rangers, the Nova Rangers..."

Tommy nodded as her voice trailed off. He had worked with Trey and the Aqitarian rangers, and knew a lot about other rangers in the galaxy. He knew that Phantom had played a part with their teams before the Zordon wave. And that the Nova's were doing a lot more in space than the rangers of Earth would ever realize. "So did you lead everyone?" he asked, assuming that she did as the Red Fire Ranger

"Yes." She said simply. "We fought hard and ended it with one huge battle that lasted days. At the end everyone was destroyed and we went home." She explained as she sighed. "Honestly I don't know what happened. I had conformation from other rangers that it was over. I just assumed." She paused and shook her head. "I should have never assumed. I should have done the final sweeps myself."

"You guys did a hell of a job out there."

"It wasn't good enough." Kim replied. "Now they're here and they want revenge on us and our planet."

"And we'll stop them before they get too powerful. Let's not forget that we did destroy all of Dark Specter's forces." Tommy reminded her.

Kim frowned at him. "Let's not forget that we had a little help with that." If it weren't for Andros's destroying Zordon, there would have been no Zordon wave and no cremation or purification of all their enemies.

"We'll do it." Tommy replied firmly. If he could destroy Mesogog with a group of rookie rangers, he was confidant that they could destroy Callisto and Rhianna with master rangers. He looked over at Kim who had crossed her arms and was looking up at the ceiling. He knew there had to be more to this visit than a discussion about strategy. "Is that all we need to cover?" he asked.

She froze for a second. He was giving her the opening, and she was going to have to say it. "I want to talk about us. The mission was awkward, and I think we have a lot to air out if we're going to work together on a team." she said, glancing over at him

Tommy nodded and made eye contact with her. "As reds we're going to be working closely on this."

"I'm sorry I left like that." She said starting the conversation.

Tommy snickered. "If you're sorry than why did you do it in the first place."

"Because... because it was hard being with you. It was all about school and your PhD, which was great for you but not as much for us. I think the last real date we had was when we were at USC together." She said as she glanced around the command center. "Plus you had all this to get to. It worked out better, we both went on to our destinies."

"We could have gone to our destinies together. We could have kept in touch. At the very least we could have gone on without me thinking that you left me." Tommy replied his voice rising.

"What in the world would give you the idea that I left you." Kim said standing up and squaring her body with his.

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "I believe it had something to do with the fact that the last time I talked to you all I heard was you had something to do and you'd be back soon."

"I didn't mean to be gone that long Tommy. I loved you and I never wanted to do that to you." She said as she could feel tears forming. She tried hard to hold them back as she glared over at him.

"You loved me once before and remember how easy it was for you to send that damn letter." Tommy growled.

"It was never easy." She snapped. "Neither time was easy. I've always done what had to be done for us. When I sent that letter I didn't want you to feel guilty about Kat. And when I left I didn't want to tell you that I was searching for Rita and Zedd's daughter. You had too much going on between Mercer and your PhD to worry about their offspring."

"You have a strange way of showing love." Tommy pointed out. He saw her eyes starting to blur and he tried hard not to work up tears of his own. "For a year I thought you'd left me. That was the worst feeling in the world. It wasn't until I ran into Zack who had heard from Billy that I found out where you actually went. And you know I was kind of proud of you for going on that mission. I just wish you would have respected me enough to tell me what was going on so I wouldn't think there was something wrong with me, that I wasn't meant for a relationship."

After a two weeks had gone by with no word from Kim, Tommy was convinced that she'd left him again. He felt as though he had given his heart to her twice and had it stomped on both times. Since then he hadn't had a serious girlfriend. He had been on a date here and there, but refused to let anybody in.

Kim looked at him and the realization of how much she had hurt him started to hit her. She never wanted him to feel that way. She loved him, she always had and she always will. Tears started streaming down her face and she turned to look away from Tommy. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.

Seeing her cry was enough for a few stray tears of his own to form. "I am too." He said as he walked up behind her and gave her a hug. He was sorry he didn't pay more attention to her after she moved in with him, and he was sorry that things had gone the way they had.

Kim took a deep breath and the crying finally came to a halt. She brushed the remaining tears off of her face as she felt Tommy let go and walk away. After she felt like she had pulled herself back together she turned to face him. "So now what?" she asked calmly as she made eye contact with him.

It was good that things were finally aired out, that both parties knew where the other was coming from. That meant that there was one place they could go from there. "Friends?" he questioned. He still loved her, there was no doubting that. After everything that had happened, he wasn't sure that he could ever let her in again.

Kim sighed. She loved him and had wanted to be with him again but she couldn't expect to drive out here and make four years of anger disappear in a couple of hours. All she could hope for was that he would start to forgive her and that they would be friends again. She smiled at him as she realized at least she was getting part of that. "Friends." She replied.

Tommy extended his arms to her. "Do friends get hugs?"

"Small hugs." Kim replied as she grinned and walked into his open arms. They hugged briefly and as Kim got a whiff of his cologne it reminded her of the good old days. She found herself quickly pulling back and smiled at him. "I guess I should get going."

"Well you did drive all the way up here. I was going to make sandwiches for lunch, would you care to join me?" he asked as he gestured toward the top of the stairs.

"Sure why not." Kim replied. She walked upstairs and headed toward the kitchen as Tommy followed. Sandwiches with her ex was certainly better than nothing.

* * *

Jason leaned against his bike and glanced down the sidewalk looking for Carri. He had been waiting in front of the coffee shop for about fifteen minutes. Not that he particularly cared for coffee shops, but it was where she wanted to met. "Where's your car?" he asked as she finally came into view.

"I walked." Carri replied as she approached.

He raised an eyebrow. "From your place?"

"From Rocky's." She said nonchalantly.

"Car you should've said something. I would've picked you up." He said glaring at her. That was a bit of a walk, even for someone in as good a shape as she was.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I needed to walk off some steam."

"That bad?" he questioned as he stood up and walked toward her.

Carri gave him a look as she walked over toward the entrance of the coffee house. He followed and the duo went in and ordered drinks. A few minutes later her frappuccino and his coffee were ready and they went out back, finding a small table near the fountain.

"So you went to talk to him today?" Jason questioned. He was thrilled to hear that she was trying to mend ties, if not for herself than at least for the team. She glanced over at him and nodded slowly. "And?" he asked waiting for her to continue. There was a reason she asked him to meet her out here and it wasn't for the coffee.

"And I think he wants to get into my pants." She replied.

Jason grinned and raised his eyebrow. "So that's a bad thing?" he questioned. He had gotten the impression that she still cared about him.

"No." She said before quickly changing her mind. "I mean yes. Why didn't you tell me he had a girlfriend?" she asked as she swatted at him.

Jason was quick to grab her hand and set it on the table. "If I had known I would have told you. I haven't exactly kept up with the social lives of the former rangers."

Carri glared at him. "Oh you're going to love this then. Not only is he dating, but he's dating one Jessica McCaffery."

Jason almost spit out his coffee. "No shit?" he asked trying hard not to laugh at a subject that had to be very touchy for Carri.

"Oh yes. And we kissed and she walked in and I think I broke her nose." Carri said her temper flaring at the memory.

Jason couldn't help himself, the thought of Carri breaking Jessica's nose was enough to make him burst out laughing. She shot him a dirty look and he threw his hands up in the air. "Sorry but I think you've been wanting to do that for eight years now and to hear that you finally did, well it's kind of funny."

"Well whatever. I wish he had told me. I can't believe he was dating her." She said rather harshly.

"Come on Carri. You can't expect that after not hearing from you for so many years he still thought you were waiting for him." Jason pointed out.

She shook her head no. "It's not that. I mean I wasn't exactly faithful. It's just... it's Jessica. God that makes me want to strangle something."

"Back up one second." Jason said looking at her curiously. "What do you mean you weren't exactly faithful?"

"Well you know," she started as she shrugged, "you're trapped in a ship with someone. You work closely with someone. You think you're developing feelings for someone."

"What? You and Zhane?" Jason questioned. He couldn't believe that they would have been in a relationship together.

"Yeah. For a few months. Until we realized that although the sex was great, there was nothing more between us than friendship. He wanted to try again with Karone and I missed Rocky so I think we channeled some of that into each other." She explained.

Jason was surprised how casual she was acting about it. Usually rangers didn't sleep with other rangers without it being made a big deal of. Zack and Aisha ran into each other in Boston and had a fling. It was nothing, but it had gotten back to Jason through Billy and Trini rather quickly. Of course one would have to imagine that not many people would know about a fling in space unless both parties were sharing. "Does Kim know?" he asked out of curiosity.

"About me and Zhane?" Carri questioned as though he was crazy. Jason nodded. "Of course she knows. But that's it. You and Kim. And I'd like to keep it that way."

Jason tried hard to hold in his laughter. "Then you may have told the wrong two rangers."

"Shut up." She said swatting at him again. "Besides you, Kim and I know a lot of things that noone else knows and they stayed between us."

He smiled and nodded. She was right, they had spent so much time in college talking just the three of them. Jason heard secrets he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know. And he loved and respected the girls too much to repeat them. He couldn't help but smile. It was nice that they were back in town again and he could have these kind of conversations with them. And it was even nicer that they were all rangers again.

"So what about Kim?" Jason asked trying to switch the conversation. "Is she going to try and play nice with Tommy?"

Carri shrugged. "I don't know. She went up there today so we'll see what happens. I haven't heard from her and hopefully that's a good thing."

"I'm sure if they'd killed each other we'll know by now." Jason replied with a smile.

Carri thought for a moment. It had been a shitty day and she was done thinking about reviving her relationship and was moving on to thinking about someone who might actually have a chance. "You think they can work this all out?"

"Sure. Well since they're both reds they'll at least be diplomatic and work it out for the team." Jason knew they could both be stubborn and was skeptical that they would do much more past that.

"I know that. I mean like can they be Kim and Tommy again?" she asked.

"That's a good question." Jason replied. He didn't know how Tommy felt as they hadn't really spoken in years. And Kim was kind of cryptic when he asked her about it so there was no help there. "Honestly I think it's going to be kind of hard for them. At least right now." He replied. The one thing he did know was that word got around that Tommy was more than a little angry with how Kim left things.

Carri took a huge gulp of her drink and sighed. She was hoping one of them could get their own storybook ending but she knew better. If she were to ever have kids she would only read them fairytales where real life won in the end. "I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right." He said trying to get her to smile. "Hey I know what will cheer you up."

"What?" she asked looking at him skeptically.

"Let's finish our drinks and I'll take you for a ride." He replied.

She raised an eyebrow. "On your bike?" she questioned as he nodded. She had never gone for a ride on his bike but what the hell. "Alright you're on." She said smiling at him as she started quickly drinking her frappuccino

* * *

Two figures stood silently on the moon overseeing the construction. One in particular was agitated as she didn't see what the other was trying to accomplish. "Tell me again why we're doing this?" Callisto asked as she looked at Rhianna .

"We're rebuilding my parents palace. Only it will be my castle. And much more efficient than anything they ever had." Rhianna replied.

Callisto crossed her arms and glared at the other woman. "I don't plan on this fight lasting long enough for your castle to matter."

"My parents spent years on this battle. It's better to be prepared." Rhianna replied. She didn't plan on making the same mistakes her parents made, and staying here for years with no results. But she did acknowledge that with the former team in power again this battle may last longer than she anticipated. And she wasn't going to spend time living on that blasted ship.

Callisto didn't have much of a response. She didn't think it was going to take them that long to defeat the rangers. She had a feeling that this was more about Rhianna rebuilding her parents palace and making into a castle of her own than anything.

Rhianna took the goddess's silences as more disapproval. "You'll have better conditions for building Cirranadrones. They'll come out faster and stronger." She said trying to sway her.

"I suppose." Callisto replied although it was obvious she wasn't convinced. However Rhianna was right, they would be able to get better results working out of the castle than in that little ship.

"We'll be ready to attack when the castle is done." Rhianna said staring at the work their minions were doing. "Hopefully the rangers won't be too rested."

"No we'll have them right where we want them." Callisto replied with a sly smile. "They'll be relaxed, thinking we're not a threat. Then when we attack, well maybe we can end this quickly." Then Callisto would be able to give Rhianna a giant I told you so over the necessity of this castle. Of course the other benefit of waiting to attack until the castle was done was that Callisto would have time to hunt down an item for Rhianna. It was going to be a surprise, hopefully one that would give them an advantage over the rangers. Callisto smiled as she watched the work that was being done and thought about her future. Things were about to get very interesting.

* * *

Rocky leaned against his car on the unusually warm March afternoon, staring at a house several doors down from where he stood. He had a lot more to say to Carri and he didn't have her number and she wasn't listed. So after he left the hospital he found her home address and went there. Noone was there, so he stayed out of sight waiting for her to come home.

Knowing her she had probably taken off to blow off some steam. He couldn't blame her, she had every right to be fuming. He should have told her, and now he was here to make things right. As he leaned against the car he heard a loud rumbling noise. Looking up, he saw a motorcycle coming from the opposite direction. It slowed down as it approached her house then stopped in the driveway.

Carri jumped off the back of the motorcycle and lifted her helmet off as Jason stayed seated and did the same. She secured hers to the back of Jason's bike. "Thanks for the ride." She said with a smile. He had taken her around Angel Grove on the back of his motorcycle that afternoon so she could get a feel for what it was like and get her mind off of other things.

"Anytime." He replied smiling back. "Did you enjoy it?"

"It was a lot more fun that I thought it was going to be." She told him.

He laughed at her. "This coming from the woman who loves the wind in her face."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. It's a bit different in the car versus on your bike."

Perhaps it was, but Jason certainly wasn't going to tell her he agreed. "Well I'm going to take off." He said flashing her a smile. "Call me if you need me. And tell Kim I want to know how it went."

"Will do." She replied leaning in to give a friend a hug. "Stay out of trouble." She teased as she walked toward the house.

"Funny I'm getting warnings from someone who's running around breaking noses." Jason replied. He watched as she turned and stuck her tongue out, before putting his helmet on and taking off.

Carri walked up to the door and dug for her keys, opening the lock and heading in. She pulled her phone from her pocket and tossed the keys and the phone on the small table near the entrance before collapsing on the couch. The first thing she did was throw her shoes off and rub her aching feet. Walking from Rocky's was a good idea at the time, but she had been pissed and she hadn't really thought about the fact that she wasn't wearing walking shoes. Now her feet were paying the price.

After a few moments she gave up on her feet and sunk into the couch. As she started to let herself relax a bit there was a knock at the door. Since Kim had a key that only left one person. Carri rolled her eyes wondering what Jason had that he could possibly haggle her with. She smiled as she went to open the door. Just as she was going to make a jab at Jason, she realized he was not the male ranger who was standing on her doorstep.

She went to shut the door in Rocky's face when he stuck his hand out to catch it. "Wait we need to talk."

"I think I pretty much got the gist of it at your apartment." She pointed out shoving the door a little harder.

Rocky pushed back a little bit. "No you didn't. Please let me explain."

Carri gripped the door handle tightly, her knuckles turning white as she thought about how angry she was with everything that happened that morning. "Fine." She muttered through clenched teeth. She opened the door and took off, flopping back down on the couch.

She listened as the door shut. Rocky slowly made his way to the living room taking in the house as he went. He saw her sitting arms crossed on the end of the couch and took a seat on the opposite side. "I'm sorry about this morning." He started.

"About what? The fact that you didn't tell me you were seeing someone before you kissed me? Or the fact that you're in love with Jessica?" Carri asked. At the moment she wasn't sure which fact ticked her off more. She felt like a fool when she found out he was seeing someone. But she was absolutely floored to find out that the someone else he was seeing was Jessica.

"First off I don't love Jessica. We've been kind of seeing each other for the last two years. She started taking classes at one of my schools. She was still smitten with me and I was lonely so when she asked me out I said yes. But I never loved her, you were always in the back of my mind."

Rocky paused looking for an answer but he didn't get one. Silently Carri agreed with him as she knew what it felt like to be missing someone and be lonely. Rocky mistook her silence for more anger and he took a deep breath before continuing. "It's just been a fun relationship that I think she took a lot more seriously than I did. I've never lied to her. She always knew I still cared deeply about you and that I didn't want anything serious with her and she said she accepted that."

Looking back Jessica probably figured that with enough time she could push Carri out of his mind and that he would learn to love her the way he loved Carri. But even if Carri never came back and Rocky finally decided that he was ready to really love someone else, it wouldn't be Jessica. She was a fun girl to hang around with and to date some, but she wasn't exactly the type of girl he would want to spend the rest of his life with.

"I guess she never really did though." He continued after Carri still had nothing to say. "We were in the hospital. You did break her nose by the way." He told her with a hint of amusement in his voice. He could tell Carri was trying hard not to smile but the corner of her mouth tweaked upwards slightly. "She said she couldn't believe you were back in town and she said I had to completely cut you out of my life to be with her. Before I could say anything she made it absolutely clear that it was either you or her." He said trying to get Carri to make eye contact with him or at least acknowledge him. She glanced at him briefly and he continued. "I chose you. Besides I think she would have been pissed if I chose her and still went to save the world with you." He joked trying to get her to laugh or say something.

Carri made an amused noise as she turned toward him. "So then I guess it's ok that I smashed her face in?" she questioned with a smile.

"Yeah." he replied smiling back at her. "Look, I'm sorry. I feel like I cheated on your or something and..."

He stopped when Carri waved a hand at him, cutting him off. "After two years we both started getting a little lonely. There's nothing to be sorry about it's human nature."

"You weren't the one seeing someone else." Rocky pointed out.

Carri sighed heavily. "Just because I didn't come home with a boyfriend doesn't mean I didn't see someone else."

Rocky was a bit taken back. Who could she have possibly seen romantically in space. "Was it another ranger?" he questioned.

Slowly she nodded her head yes. Rocky had been jealous of her relationships with male rangers in the past and she hated telling him this, but she wasn't going to lie. "I was with Zhane." She replied watching the hurt expression on his face. She didn't feel bad, it hurt her just as much knowing he was with Jessica. "It didn't last more than a few months. He wanted Karone to take him back and I loved you."

Rocky stopped for a moment to try and absorb what she was saying. It was hard knowing she had been with another ranger. He took a deep breath and thought about what she just told him. "You said you loved me. Does that mean... I mean now do you still care?"

"Of course I do. I missed you so much and when we came home I figured you were mad at me or had moved on, so I stayed away. God knows I thought about you everyday while I was up there."

Rocky scooted toward her and put a hand on her face. "I've always loved you too you know."

"Yeah?" she asked softly as she glanced into his eyes. She felt herself melt into his arms as she leaned in and gave him a kiss. He pulled back for a second and smiled at her, before wrapping both arms around her and bringing her body toward his, kissing her throughly.

* * *

Kim pulled Carri's car into the driveway late Sunday afternoon. She paused to think briefly about how Carri would love to be able to use the garage if she ever got it cleaned out. Her friend had thrown things in there that she wanted for the house, and was planning on getting it all sorted out when she had time. Of course between work and rangering, Kim thought she was on schedule for never.

Walking in the front door she smiled to herself and shook her head as she tossed the keys down beside Carri's things. She couldn't help but think about her trip to Reefside as she drug herself to the couch. She almost tripped over Carri's shoes as she sat down and reached over for the remote.

As she went to click on the tv, something at the end of the couch caught her eye. She was slightly amused to realize it was Carri's shirt. With a little more investigation she found a mens shirt laying on the floor at the end of the couch.

Kim sighed. It must be nice to be able to make amends. Of course she didn't know what she expected to happen when she went to see Tommy. She had already had her second chance and she blew it. There was the old three strikes rule, but she was afraid she had hurt him too much with strike two. And she couldn't blame him for being so angry. She hadn't thought clearly about it at the time, she just knew she needed to go on that mission for the sake of the universe.

She still didn't regret going. She did regret how she handled Tommy, but it was impossible to change the past. Well she knew for a fact that it wasn't impossible, but she also knew that it was highly frowned upon. If she changed one simple thing, such as her phone call to Tommy, she could inadvertently change her future, Carri's future, Callisto and Rhianna's future... cutting ties with Tommy may have been what she needed to lead that mission. If she was too busy thinking about being with him back home, they could have all died on that planet and Callisto and Rhianna could be ruling Earth by now.

Everything happened for a reason, she just wasn't sure what that reason was. Perhaps it was simply their destinies to go on different paths. Either way she was sitting here now bored and lonely while her best friend was apparently getting it on in the other room. She wanted desperately to have been able to easily fall back into Tommy's arms, but she would have to settle for being just friends.

At least being a ranger and working at her new job would keep her busy, too busy to worry about the fact that she may have blown it with Tommy and that she may not ever find a man she could love like that.

Kim leaned into the couch and resigned herself to flipping through the channels. Anything was better than sitting here worrying over Tommy. She paused on a rerun of CSI as she heard the bedroom door open. A few seconds later, Carri emerged wearing her jeans and a bra.

"Have you seen my"

Kim cut her off by throwing her the shirt, giving her a smile as she watched her put it on. "Ok I want details." She said. Well some details. The talking that led up to the bedroom kind of details.

"Later." Carri mouthed as she heard Rocky walking out.

"Babe I can't find my," he stared as he walked shirtless into the livingroom. "Kim, hi, what are you doing here?"

"I live here. Kind of." She replied flashing him a smile. "And I think your shirt is on the floor."

Rocky picked it up and quickly put it back on. He felt embarrassed. He wasn't completely sure why. It wasn't like Kim hadn't seen him with his shirt off before. And it wasn't like she didn't know what he and Carri had been up to before. It was just weird walking out with her sitting there. Rocky tried to shake the feeling as he turned toward Carri. "Can we talk for a minute?" he asked.

"Sure." She replied as she led him around to the deck. They walked outside and he closed the door behind them. She sat on the table and smiled at him as he took in the view.

The deck was huge and she had picked out beautiful furniture. She also had a great view of the lake from where she lived. Rocky walked over to the edge of the deck and looked out, noticing the flowers and the trees that had been planted. "You did a great job with the yard." He said rather impressed.

Carri snorted. "Please my thumb is far from green." she reminded him as she turned toward him. Any plants she had been left in charge of in college or while living with Rocky had died in a matter of days. "I just payed for the stuff. Kim took care of the front and backyards. She said it was her way of contributing." Kim had been into botany in high school and told Carri she would love to help her fix up the yard, that it was the least she could do.

Rocky nodded as he turned back toward her, leaning against the railing. "About that," he started gesturing toward the bedroom, "not that I regret it, but maybe we should slow down. We still have a lot to talk about before we're back on solid ground again."

"Agreed." She replied nodding her head. She didn't exactly plan on having sex with Rocky, it was sort of a heat of the moment thing. She didn't regret it either, but a lot had changed with them in four years and there were still a lot of things that had remained unsaid that day.

"How about I pick you up one night this week for dinner?" he suggested. Dinner would be good, it would give them each a chance to figure out who the other person has become over the last few years.

"Dinner is good. How about Tuesday?" she asked. That may end up being the only night she didn't have to work late.

"Tuesday's good." He replied. He walked over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I do need to get going. I have to start preparing things for my schools."

"That's fine. Would you like me to walk you do the door?" she asked flashing him a smile.

Rocky pointed toward the side of the house. "I'll just head around." He replied. He smiled back at her before heading down the stairs.

Carri watched him walk until he was out of her view, then turned and went back inside. Upon shutting the porch door, she walked over and had a seat beside Kim on the couch. "Ok you have to tell me everything." She said turning toward her friend.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Since you were the one in the bedroom, you first."

"Fine." Carri said with a smile. She proceeded to tell Kim about her morning and her conversation with Rocky, followed by the kiss and the Jessica incident. Kim couldn't believe that Rocky was dating Jessica, and she'd found it more unbelievable that Carri actually broke her nose.

Carri went on to tell her about the conversation they'd had in the house before they slept together, and the conversation they'd had after. Kim couldn't help but feel a bit jealous as she started to tell her story, as she wanted hers to end something like that. She told her about his house and command center, about their conversations and emotions, and about how she missed him but knew that it was hopeless at the moment. Carri felt bad, she really wanted Kim and Tommy to have another chance. She knew that there was no way their story was over just yet.

"At least that's over with and we know we can function as a team." Carri said as she sunk into the couch.

Kim nodded. "That's the most important thing." She replied. She knew that they would have to be strong together to hold off Callisto and Rhianna. She hoped their teamwork would be enough.

"You think we can pull this off?" Carri asked turning toward her friend. The last time it took dozens of rangers to even come close to defeating them. One of the thoughts that had been crossing her mind a lot lately was how the hell were they going to do this.

"I don't know." Kim said honestly. They would have to see what happened. They could always call the other rangers back to help. Of course she'd heard that there had been some turmoil brewing on Aquitar, and that the Nova's just started their own battle in space.

Without warning Carri pulled the remote out of Kim's hand and hit the power button. "Let's go shopping." She said.

"Carri..."

"Tomorrow is your first day at work. You need a new outfit." Carri cut her off before she could make up an excuse. They used to have so much fun shopping. Granted a lot has changed since they were college kids, but there was a lot on both of their minds that they needed to try and push aside, if only for a few hours.

Kim sighed and Carri knew she was giving in. "Fine. We'll go. But I can't promise I'm not going to be distracted by Tommy or Callisto and Rhianna."

Carri grinned at her. "Trust me, I'm going to keep you occupied." With that she jumped up and grabbed Kim's hand, pulling her up as well. She grabbed her shoes then pulled Kim to the front door, only pausing long enough to grab her keys and phone. They headed out locking the door behind them, before jumping in the car and heading to the mall.


	5. Moving Forward

**Author's Notes:** This is chapter five, "Moving Forward". It is about the rangers and how things are starting to pan out now that they've had a little over a week to get used to being rangers again. This is also the first chapter of several chapters that will involve some very interesting drama :)

As always I love hearing from everyone, so don't hesitate to leave a review.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Moving Forward"

Billy stood in his Command Chamber early on a Wednesday morning. It had been a little over a week since the rangers had gotten their powers. Not much had happened on the evil realm other than a few Cirranadrone attacks. From experience Billy knew that was about to change. That was why he had some new equipment delivered from one of the most technologically advanced planets. He wanted to spend the day getting it installed in the Command Chamber but he was going to need some help.

Unfortunately all of the rangers had full time jobs. The only one he could probably get to help would be Carri. As of the previous Friday, she had sent the copy of the first show in her series to her father. Her father approved it and sent it out to all the networks the day before, and now Carri didn't have anything to do but wait. Once the show got picked up she would start production on the second episode, but for now her days were filled with boring stuff such as working on her house.

He figured she would love to have the opportunity to help out so he beeped her communicator. Not surprisingly, she jumped at the chance to get out of the house for a while. It didn't take long before the yellow streak flew into the Command Chamber and dissolved into Carri.

"When you said you got a lot of new stuff you weren't kidding." Carri said glancing around at all the equipment laying on the Command Chamber floor.

"It shouldn't be too difficult to install." Billy assured her. Most of it Billy could give Carri directions and she could do it, but not without an extra pair of hands. He went and picked something up off the floor and pointed to one of the control panels. "We'll start over here." He suggested.

Billy pulled the back of the panel off and got it ready to install the piece. He instructed Carri to hold it up so that he could get it in. As he was getting started his phone rang. He sighed and went to answer it.

Carri glanced at him as he hung the phone back up. "Am I gonna hold this thing forever or shall we get it in?" she asked with a smile.

"I've got to go to work." Billy replied. He was the boss and he had freedom to come and go as he pleased, but it seemed as though they couldn't go thirty minutes without him. "You can try by yourself if you want but I think you need two pair of hands to get any work done. Hopefully I won't be gone long."

"I think I can find some help." She said grinning at him.

"Alright. I'll get back here when I can." Billy promised as he teleported out.

Carri sighed and thought about it. She knew that Tommy was busy that day and that Kim was at work. She also knew that Jason had taken the day to work on his new novel. He was starting a new sci-fi series and his deadline was coming up in about two months. They were aiming for a summer release for the book, hoping it would be good enough that millions of people would pick it up for summer relaxation. She was hoping that perhaps Rocky had some spare time so she gave him a call. When he didn't pick up she left a voicemail, but she wasn't expecting to hear back anytime soon as he was probably working hard too.

Although she was out of Turbo rangers, she did know of another ranger that would love to help out. She had spoken to Zhane a few times in the last week. He was as concerned and felt as guilty as she and Kim did about Callisto and Rhianna attacking Earth. He had volunteered to do anything he could to help the Turbo team and finally dispose of the duo. Carri couldn't think of a better way to start helping out than by lending her a hand in the Command Chamber.

She didn't waste any time contacting him. He agreed to give her a hand and she teleported him up. Zhane arrived and looked around at all the pieces Billy had left laying around. "All this needs to get installed? I do have a hot date tonight." He said grinning at her.

"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a hand." She replied grinning back. She picked up the piece that she and Billy started with and got Zhane to help her start upgrading their Command chamber.

* * *

Tommy stood in his house in Reefside that same morning, throwing the last of the things he would need into boxes. Over the last week they hadn't had any major attacks, but Tommy decided that this would get serious and that he didn't want to be living in Reefside when all the action was happening in Angel Grove. He was renting a fully furnished place in Angel Grove and planned on staying there until Callisto and Rhianna were gone.

"So are you ready to get going?" a female voice asked from behind startling him.

Tommy spun around and saw Hayley standing there. "As ready as I'm going to be." He replied. "Thanks again for staying here."

Hayley had agreed to live in Tommy's house in Reefside while Tommy was staying in Angel Grove. It worked out well for both of them. Tommy didn't want to leave his command center unattended and Hayley loved to go down there and dabble with technology.

"No problem. You have ranger stuff to do." She said smiling at him. "So is everything going to be alright when you get there? I mean with you and Kim."

"Yeah I told you we talked. And we're working alright together. At least we know where we both stand. It was good closure, and now we can both move on." Tommy replied.

"Really?" Hayley questioned finding it hard to believe that Tommy was ready to simply move on.

"We're friends. We've put the past behind us and we're both going forward with our lives." Tommy reiterated smiling at her. He closed the top of his box and lifted it up, carrying it toward the door.

"Well if you really have closure and are moving on then that's great." Hayley said. She still wasn't sure if she believed that after all Tommy has gone through the last few years they were closing the book and moving on, but if he said they were than she would believe it for now.

Tommy shook his head and smiled at her. "We really are. I promise. Kim and I are just friends and that's all." He didn't know what was so hard for Hayley to believe. He and Kim talked and they agreed to be friends.

"Ok well have fun in Angel Grove. Call me if you need me." Hayley said dropping the subject as Tommy approached the door.

"I will." He promised as Hayley opened the door for him. He walked through and headed toward his jeep, tossing the box in the back. Climbing into the front seat he cranked the engine and was off for Angel Grove.

* * *

As the morning rolled into the afternoon there was a lot of activity stirring on the moon high above the rangers. Callisto arrived back on the moon for the first time in a week. From the looks of things the castle was finally finished. She would have to give it to Rhianna, she had done a hell of a job on it.

Callisto headed inside and worked her way toward the main room where she found her counterpart. "I see you have everything finished."

Rhianna nodded her head yes. "Yes now we'll be ready for full fledged attacks against the rangers."

"You may need a little bit of help with that." Callisto replied.

Rhianna turned toward her as she pulled her hand out from her side, revealing the staff she was holding. "What's that?" she questioned standing and walking toward her.

It took an entire week but Callisto had finally hunted down a staff suitable for Rhianna. This would make her at least as powerful as her parents if not more so. It was only the beginning of what she wanted to do in order to boost her power. "This is for you." She said extending her arm and handing her the staff.

Rhianna took the staff in both hands and examined this. "What can this do?" she questioned looking up at her goddess friend.

"For starters you can make monsters, make them grow." Callisto explained. "Of course there is a lot more power to the staff than just that."

"Can I give it a try?" she asked the excitement showing in her eyes.

"Be my guest." Callisto replied.

Rhianna walked over toward the window of her throne room, which was facing Earth. "Should I go down there to find a good monster?" she asked.

"I don't think that will be necessary." Callisto replied.

Rhianna started thinking about how in the world was she going to be able to see the rangers if she didn't go down there when all of the sudden the crystal on the top of her staff started to glow and she got a clear picture of Angel Grove. "This does have a lot of power." She said smiling. "Now I just have to figure out what to make into a monster."

"Take your time. Whatever you see, your staff has the power to change it." Callisto replied.

Rhianna nodded and continued to scan Angel Grove, looking for the perfect item to make into her first monster.

* * *

Rocky stood in his school in the early afternoon hours as he was helping a student after class. The boy he was helping was sweet and desperately wanted to learn, but he was having trouble picking up on some of the easy concepts. Rocky promised to help him some after class.

The boy's mother eventually walked in and headed over to the mats. "How are you boys doing?"

"Good mom." Her son replied.

Rocky smiled at her. "He's picked up on a lot. I think he'll be just fine."

"That's great." She said as her son walked over to her and she put her arm around him. "You ready to go home."

"Yeah I guess." the boy replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. He really wanted to stay and work some more, but he knew that he couldn't. "We'll practice more right?" he asked Rocky as his eyes grew wide and his voice perked up.

"Of course we will." Rocky replied. He said goodbye and watched as the excited child left with his mother. He walked toward his office once the school was empty, smiling at the secretary as he passed.

Heading into the office he sat down in his seat. He was done with teaching for the day, he had passed all his afternoon classes to an old friend and was trying to concentrate on more of the business end of things. He was trying to get someone to cover his morning classes but he hadn't pressed the issue as he had promised that little boy he'd help him some.

Rocky dug through his desk drawers until he came up with his cell phone. Flipping it open he saw that he missed three calls. One was from his brother, one was from Carri and one was from Jessica. There were two messages and he was hoping Jessica was not one of them. He dialed into his voicemail and pulled the phone up to his ear.

The first message on there was Jessica, telling him she was sorry and loved him and begged him to take her back. He sighed as he deleted that one. It wasn't the first time since he left her at the hospital that she called and tried to get him to pick her over Carri. He hoped she would give up soon. The next message popped up and it was Carri, saying that she was at the Command Chamber doing some work and seeing if he had time to come help.

He didn't really have a lot to do that afternoon and after spending four years without her he loved any opportunity to spend time with her. He smiled as he deleted the message, then slipped out of his office and told his secretary he'd return soon. He headed toward the back of the building where noone would see him before teleporting out.

As he arrived in the Command Chamber, he saw Carri leaning over a console. "Hey babe." He called out.

She stood up straight and spun around. "Hey." she said as she walked over and put her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss. "I take it you got my message."

"Yes I did." he replied returning her kiss. "I thought I'd come help you get some work done." He said as he smiled at her.

"Hey." A male voice said suddenly interrupting Rocky's moment.

Rocky peered around Carri and looked to see Zhane, who was standing up from behind the control panel. He must've been ducked down which is why he didn't see him when he came in. "Hey." He said his voice filled with uncertainty. He didn't feel comfortable with Carri hanging out in the Command Chamber with someone she's admitted to sleeping with. "What are you doing here?"

"Carri asked me to help her get some of this work done." He replied with a smile. He did pick up on the tone in Rocky's voice and was trying to brush it off.

"Oh." Was all he said as he leaned down and gave Carri a look.

"So let's get this stuff finished and we can all get on with our days." Carri said quickly going to pick up another piece. She hadn't told Zhane that Rocky knew, she didn't think it was important. Now she wish she did as she was afraid they were going to butt heads before this was all said and done.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Zhane said as he ducked back down and continued working on what he was doing before

Carri walked Rocky over to the front of another panel and got him to help her take it off so they could get that piece . "So how was work this morning?" she asked making small talk.

"Good." He replied. He couldn't help but keep glancing over at the panel that Zhane was behind. As much as he trusted Carri, he didn't like the fact that she spent all morning with him here alone. He didn't know Zhane well enough to know if he could trust him or not.

"Have you passed out all your classes yet?" she questioned. She knew he was trying to get other teachers to take over the rest of his classes so she thought she'd ask about it. Anything to keep him from thinking about Zhane.

"Almost." He said continuing with the one word answers.

Carri sighed. Something had to be done about this. She watched as Zhane emerged from behind the panels and picked up another piece, examining it for a second to see what the instructions said to do with it. He flashed her a smile as he walked by her and headed behind another panel.

Luckily Rocky didn't notice his smile as he was working on installing his piece. Carri stood beside him watching as what she was doing only needed on person. A few minutes later Zhane reappeared.

"I can't get this in by myself. Can I get a hand?" he asked.

Rocky and Carri turned toward him. "Sure." Carri replied as Rocky shot him a look.

Zhane looked at Carri strangely as Rocky's eyes felt like daggers shooting at him. He led her around to the back and put the piece in her hands. "This goes all the way in. I need you to hold onto it so I can attach it."

"No problem." She replied. She picked the piece up and leaned into the back of the panel.

Zhane leaned in beside her and whispered to her. "What's up with Rocky?" he asked as he started to attach the piece.

"He knows." She whispered back. "About us."

"Yeah but that was a long time ago it's done with." Zhane pointed out. Neither had any interest in each other besides just friends and hadn't in a well over a year. Zhane was more than happy with Karone and Carri was thrilled to be back with Rocky again.

"You know that, I know that, even he knows that but I don't think he cares." She replied.

Zhane rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He said repeating words and gestures he had picked up from Kim, Carri and Ashley over the years. He needed to get more leverage to get part of this piece screwed in. He squeezed his arm out and put his hand on the best place he could reach, the small of Carri's back. He used her to push off on and get the piece installed.

With her help it didn't take long. As he was finishing up he felt something grab onto him and fling him backwards onto his back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rocky asked glaring at him.

"Helping you guys upgrade the Command Chamber." He replied as he sat up.

"I think you can do that without your hands all over my girlfriend's back." Rocky replied as Carri jumped back out of the panel and stood.

She cocked her head and looked strangely at him. "Please tell me what the hell this is all about."

"I'm not going to sit here and watch while your ex is feeling you up." Rocky told her as he crossed his arms. "And as long as we're discussing this, I don't appreciate you turning to him for help."

"First, he wasn't feeling me up. Second he doesn't want me and I don't want him. But we are friends and friends do help each other. If it was Jason with his hand on me like that you wouldn't care." She said crossing her arms as well.

Truthfully if it was Jason he would still care but he wouldn't say anything as he knew there had never been anything between them. But there was one huge reason why Jason didn't bother him as much as Zhane. "You've never slept with Jason." He pointed out.

"Mine and Zhane's relationship was a long time ago." She said making a point of her own.

"Well how would you like it if Jessica was hanging around with me?" he asked trying to get her to see things from his point of view.

"That's different." She growled. Jessica wanted him for eight years and probably still wants him. They dated a lot longer than she and Zhane did and he knew for a fact that Jessica got under her skin more than anybody. He wouldn't have an opinion on Zhane if she hadn't have slept with him.

Rocky thought for a moment. Perhaps Carri was right but he wasn't going to admit that.

"Look I'm with Karone now. I have no interest in Carri." Zhane pipped up trying to help her out.

"Then why hang around?" he asked.

Carri had a murderous look in her eye. He had no idea what it was like to be on a ship with someone and only have that person as a friend. You were bound to get close, and forming that kind of relationship you were bound to stay close even after the adventure was over. "He's hanging around because he's my friend. He and I were close for four years and after what we've been through a friendship like that doesn't just dissolve. And if you can't"

Mid sentence the alarms in the Command Chamber went off. Carri thought it was perhaps for the best as her temper was flaring and she could've said something that would've gotten her kicked to the curb. Carri rushed to the controls to key up the problem.

"Looks like our first monster." Rocky said as he looked at the screen.

"Well let's go give him a warm ranger welcome." She replied with a smile. She was more than ready to pummel something at the moment. "Zhane can you contact the others?" she asked looking over toward him.

"Will do." He replied standing up.

"Alright. Then the only thing that's left is shift into turbo!" she said yelling out the last three words of the sentence. The two rangers morphed and quickly teleported to the scene as Zhane went to contact their teammates.

* * *

Kim sat in her tiny office working on something that needed to get done quickly. She had a lot of ideas flowing and she was trying to get them all down on paper. She glanced up through the glass of her office with just enough time to see Sandy whip her head away as though she wasn't staring at her.

Although she enjoyed what she was doing, the past week and a half had been difficult. Sandy still didn't like her and had no clue why Ashley had brought her on. She was quick to stand behind her and judge her every move. Ashley could tell that Kim was a bit frustrated and told her not to worry about it. As long as it was Ashley's company, her's was the only opinion that mattered.

Which made Kim feel a little bit better, as Ashley had loved some of the ideas Kim had come up with in Monday's meeting. She told her to get some rough drafts up for her to see by the end of the week and that was exactly what she was working on.

Of course she'd probably be farther along if there weren't two Cirranadrone attacks yesterday. Those weren't the only attacks they had seen, there were four from the week before Fortunately Cirranadrone attacks were usually over in ten minutes or so. Sandy was not happy with Kim for all the ten minute breaks she was taking and had already complained to Ashley more than once. Ashley was well aware that Kim was involved again with the rangers and brushed off all of Sandy's complaints.

Kim tried not to think about it as she leaned back in her chair and studied her work. Another idea came to mind and she leaned forward again, just as her communicator went off. She sighed, like she needed another Cirranadrone attack today. If she didn't work for Ashley, she'd probably already have been fired.

After making sure noone was looking, Kim angled her chair so noone looking in could tell what she was doing. She brought her communicator to her mouth and responded. "Go ahead."

"Looks like you've got your first monster from Rhianna and Callisto." A male voice replied.

Kim couldn't quite place the voice but it sounded a lot like Zhane. Now was not the time to worry about that though. "Shit." She said forcefully as the realization that Callisto and Rhianna were now in the monster making business sunk in. "Alright I'm on my way."

Kim spun her chair back around and stood up, heading out the office door. As she walked toward the elevators she was stopped by Sandy. "Miss Heart, where are you going? I believe you have plenty of work to do."

"I do." She replied flashing her a smile. "But I'm a bit stuck and so I'm heading to Starbucks for a drink. Coffee based beverages help me think."

"Fine." Sandy said a fake smile plastered on her face. "Just don't take too long."

"It's coffee. How long could it take?" Kim joked all the while thinking that the monster could take forever. She didn't have time to worry about it now as she headed toward the elevator and hit the button. She rode it down to the first floor then jetted out of the building.

As soon as she was safely in the back of the building, she was ready to join the fight. "Shift into turbo!" she yelled and in a flash of pink she was gone.

* * *

Tommy pulled up in front of the apartment he was renting in Angel Grove. He was going to miss having his own house, but there weren't any fully furnished homes for rent in the area so he went with an apartment.

He opened the back door of his jeep and stacked the last two boxes on top of each other. He carried them down the sidewalk and toward the door of his place. Struggling he held on to the boxes with one arm while he fumbled around looking for his keys with the other. Finally he pulled out the key to the apartment and got it in the lock, flipping it open and walking in.

There was a pile of boxes inside already, and Tommy clunked the last two down beside them. He paused for a second and looked around the apartment. It was a one bedroom, one bath with a tiny second room that was set up as an office. It would be more than Tommy would need in Angel Grove. The rent wasn't bad, which was good as he was still paying the mortgage on his Reefside home.

This was the first time in a long time that he was grateful he wasn't just a teacher, that he had his doctorate as well. His doctorate had given him the opportunity to do research and create things for companies both small and large. The pay for the research was amazing, and he had taken most of the money and put it into savings or invested it. The only time he spent any of it was on things ranger related, as his teachers salary was enough for him to live the lifestyle of a normal bachelor who owned his own home.

He had a few research projects already lined up to take him through the first half of the year. He was almost glad he wasn't teaching the rest of the semester, as rangering was going to take up a lot of his time. If he was teaching as well he would never have time to get to his research. If he couldn't get projects done for these companies on time, he would loose his credibility and not many companies would want to hire Dr. Thomas Oliver, the man who gets you stuff done on his time schedule. But now here he was, with nothing to do between attacks except work on his research.

Tommy glanced over at the boxes on the floor and decided that now was a good of a time as any to start putting the boxes in the rooms where they belonged, and maybe even start unpacking them. His only plans for the day involved meeting up with Jason later.

He chuckled to himself as he thought about that. He wasn't quite sure what he was getting himself into. But Jason wanted to hang out with him some now that they were both in the same town again. And he wanted to get Tommy back into the swing of things. In a way Tommy was looking forward to what Jason had planned.

As he lifted a box and headed toward the bedroom, his communicator went off. He quickly set the box down just inside the bedroom door as he pulled his communicator toward his mouth. "Go ahead."

"You guys have a monster to deal with."

The male voice came through loud and clear, although Tommy couldn't quite place it. "On my way." He replied looking around the apartment. He was trying to make sure noone was peering through the window, as the last team he was on got caught morphing by a high school reporter. Fortunately for them she decided that the rangers lives were more important than the story, but Tommy didn't want to chance someone else figuring out their secret.

Satisfied that he didn't have any nosey neighbors, Tommy morphed. "Shift into turbo!" he yelled and within seconds the red ranger was headed to the scene.

* * *

The five rangers were quick to gather on the battlefield and get their first glimpse of the monster. Carri cocked her head and looked at the monster curiously. "Is that a giant troll doll?" she asked. Standing in the center of the Cirranadrones, Goldar and Cratus was what appeared to be a giant troll dressed as Robin Hood.

Laughter escaped from Kim's lips as she looked at the troll. "She certainly is her father's daughter."

Suddenly the troll pulled arrows out and with one shot fired several rounds at the rangers. The girls amusement quickly faded as they ducked out of the way. "Toy or not," Tommy started as he stood back up, "we need to take it down."

With that Tommy was the first ranger to run for an attack. He headed toward the monster and wasted no time trying out his turbo weapons. "Turbo lightning sword!" he called out as he leaped into the air, attacking with the sword on the way down.

The other rangers were anxious to try out their new weapons, and one by one they called for them and ran to attack. Kim and Carri called for their Turbo Wind Fire and Turbo Star Charges and ran after Goldar and Cratus, firing at them before launching in hand to hand combat. While the girls were initiating their attacks, the remaining two rangers called for the Turbo Thunder Cannon and Turbo Hand Blasters and ran into battle with the Cirranadrones.

The first few minutes of the battle were frenzied, as everyone started to fight against everyone else. Kim started off facing Cratus, until he pulled out a weapon and fired it at her, flinging her back. She hit the ground hard and barely heard Tommy yell at her as she was covered by Cirranadrones. She fought her way to her feet and looked at the small army that was surrounding her.

Feeling as though she had no other choice, she levitated above them and fired at them with her weapon before flying behind them and landing safely on the ground. Tommy watched as Kim started to fight them more in the open, but didn't have a chance to process what she just did as Cratus came up behind him. Tommy turned with his sword and sliced Cratus back before engaging him in combat.

Tommy watched as the Troll monster continued to fire arrows at the rangers. Rocky was trying to control him but wasn't having as much luck as he had hoped. Everyone else was too busy to go help, and that's when Tommy decided that this had to end fast. Tommy pulled out his Turbo Blade and with a weapon in each hand, he furiously attacked Cratus.

As Cratus fell to the ground he looked up at the red ranger. "If the monster fails, I'll be back for you." He promised as he took off.

"I'll be waiting." Tommy replied for no one's benefit but his own.

Carri saw Tommy send Cratus packing and decided that it was high time to do the same thing with Goldar. She ducked and oncoming attack and rolled out of the way. As she stood, she jumped into the air and fired blasts from her Star Chargers until she got close and was able to use them to electrocute him. Carri stood there and watched him fall to the ground. "You're going to have to do better than that Goldie."

"This isn't over." He growled glaring at her for a moment before disappearing.

Before she had a chance to get back to the action she heard someone yell look out from behind her. She snapped around to see Rocky picking himself up from beside the troll and three arrows flying straight for her. Rocky couldn't believe what she did, as with a flip of the wrist the arrows were suddenly flying to the side and hitting the ground, just missing her.

He didn't get to say anything as she immediately jumped into the air and fired her weapons at the troll. As she hit the grounds more weapons were shot off behind her and the red ranger landed next to her. Tommy had fought through some Cirranadrones to get there. Now that both Goldar and Cratus were gone and the number of Cirranadrones were dwindling, they could concentrate on the monster.

Kim and Jason watched as the monster fight ensued. Both were fighting off against the remainder of the Cirranadrones. Both were ready for that part of the battle to end as the Cirranadrones seemed to be getting tougher with every fight. Kim knew for a fact that Callisto prided herself on upgrading her warriors. She wanted the toughest fighters that could be found, and Kim could honestly say that no army she had ever faced before compared. That wasn't to say that Callisto had the toughest fighters, but she was certainly trying.

It didn't take the pink and green rangers too much longer to finish one part of the fight and be ready for the next. The duo took care of the last of the Cirranadrones and ran over to join their other three teammates in battle, each taking turns leading an attack against the troll monster.

In the middle of the vicious cycle of attacking then retreating to avoid the arrows that the troll shot, a voice came through Carri's communicator. "Hey guys I think I have an idea." Zhane spoke catching the rangers attention. "Fire at his midsection."

"At his midsection?" Carri questioned aloud as she glanced at the troll. She studied him for a moment until she realized what she had missed before. She was able to catch a glimpse of a green crystal sitting on the belly of the troll that was hidden by his shirt. "Guys there's a crystal. Aim for the crystal."

"Let's try these." Tommy said touching his belt with one hand and motioning for them to join him with the other. The rangers fell in beside Tommy and each went for their Auto Blasters. "Auto Blasters, fire!" Tommy ordered.

The five beams hit the troll directly in the center of it's crystal. There was a small explosion as the troll fell to the ground. As the dust settled, the troll grew to city wrecking size.

Kim sighed as she watched the troll tower over Angel Grove. "Yup. Just like her father."

"We need Turbozord power now!" Tommy called out, trying not to show his amusement with Kim's comment. She was right, it was a lot like fighting Rita and Zedd all over again, only the warriors were a lot tougher.

The rangers jumped into their zords and quickly formed the megazord. Using the same strategy as before they concentrated their firepower on the crystal, bringing the troll down for good. Satisfied that they had destroyed him, they teleported to the Command Chamber.

* * *

"Well." Callisto said as she watched the rangers destroy the monster. She wasn't expecting much out of a troll monster, although it was Rhianna's pick. Rhianna didn't know much about Earth culture and she thought that the Robin Hood troll doll looked mean. Callisto figured if anything it was her first monster and a good way to get her feet wet.

"That was a failure." Rhianna pointed out as she looked away from Earth with disgust.

"Don't worry." Callisto assured her. "It was your first monster. Your powers will grow and we will be able to make something much more powerful than that." Callisto's plan was to keep advancing Rhianna's powers. She had the idea for the ultimate tool of destruction, but she wouldn't be ready for it until Rhianna was ready.

"What about them?" Rhianna questioned, pointing toward the two that ran off during the battle.

"There was nothing they could've done." Callisto pointed out. "But in the future they will serve their purpose." she assured her as she glared at them and made a fireball with one had and rolled it around on her fingers

They both got the hint as they muttered their own assurances of future successes. Satisfied with their answers, the fireball disappeared and Callisto headed out of the main room, leaving them there with Rhianna to think about what they wanted to do next.

* * *

The rangers arrived back in the Command Chamber, where Zhane was busy working and trying not to pay them much attention. Kim and Carri were both ready to make a few comments about the mission and get back to what they were doing. That would not be the case as Rocky and Tommy both stood firmly in front of them.

They both had questions to ask stemming from their performance on the battlefield. Jason stood to the side looking at them curiously as he wasn't aware of the questions that he already had the answers to. "You girls did some interesting things out there. Are they part of your Turbo powers?" Tommy asked. Thanks to the Dino Thunder team he knew first hand how ranger powers could easily translate into other powers. He hadn't received any special powers from the Turbo morphers, but he assumed they did.

"What are you talking about?" Kim asked genuinely confused by his question.

"You hovered over a group of Cirranadrones then practically flew over their heads. That's not natural, even for a ranger." Tommy pointed out.

"Oh that." Kim said flashing him a smile. "That I learned from Dulcea. When I was on Phaedos I learned to tap into the powers of the crane. I can levitate at small heights and fly, if you want to call that flying."

"And what about the thing with the arrows?" Rocky asked looking at Carri.

"What thing?" she questioned. So much happened on the battlefield that she didn't recall all the specifics.

He held his hand out and flicked his wrist. "Then the arrows hit the floor."

"I trained in telekinetic abilities on KO-35. It was a lot of hard work but I'm told I was a fast learner. It's kind of second nature now." She explained giving him a smile.

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Tommy asked thinking about how it would have been nice for him to know.

"We told you we were trained. We just didn't think about giving the specifics until they came up. Jason and Billy knew." Kim replied flashing him a smile. Neither woman was intentionally keeping secrets, and neither was going to apologize for not telling the remaining two rangers.

Tommy shot Jason a look. "It's not a big deal." Jason replied part in his defense and part in theirs. "It doesn't impact what we're doing." He pointed out.

Tommy sighed. Jason was right, but he still would have liked to know. "Is there anything else we should know about you guys."

"Not that I know of." Carri replied flashing the red ranger a smile.

"If that's all we want to talk about regarding this fight, I have to get to Starbucks and get a coffee so I can take it back to work." Kim replied flashing Tommy a smile as well.

Tommy nodded. There wasn't much more about the fight to be said. It was no different than fighting Rhianna's parents and until the formula got shaken up, they knew what to do and they did it well. "Actually I think I'm going to go get a coffee too." He told her.

"Great. Then let's go." She replied teleporting out. She couldn't afford to waste anymore work time standing here.

Tommy quickly teleported out behind her, leaving three members of the Turbo team in the Command Chamber. Jason stood there looking at Carri and Rocky, who were exchanging awkward glances as Zhane was busy working around the Command Chamber. He had a good idea of what might have been going on. He definitely wanted all the details later, but for now he wanted to head back and put some fresh ideas into his book.

"I've got some stuff I need to do. I'll talk to you guys later." Jason said as he teleported out.

"So." Carri said crossing her arms and looking over at Rocky.

"So." He replied. "We need to talk." He said as she nodded.

Zhane heard the conversation start between the duo and took that as his cue to leave. "I need to go find something. I'll be back." He said as he hustled out of the main door, leaving them alone.

"I'm sorry." Rocky started after Zhane had left.

"For?" she questioned. She had an idea of why he was sorry but she wanted to hear him say it.

"I was thinking about it, and you were right. I have no idea what the last four years of your life were like. I have no idea how it was to spend most of them with one person. I can only imagine that romantic feelings or not, you'd still be close." He explained.

"I'm sorry too. If it would've been Jessica I'd have kicked her ass first then yours." She apologized. Of course that wasn't to say she wouldn't have done it all over again. She was still friends with Zhane and she would still spend time with him, she was just going to have to learn to be more cautious around Rocky. She always knew he was jealous about hers and Jason's friendship, God only knows how he feels about her and Zhane.

"Are we good?" Rocky questioned smiling at her.

"Only if you're alright with Zhane being around. Because in all fairness he is a Planetary Ranger and this is still as much his fight as it is mine and Kim's." She replied.

"He can be around as long as he's not touchy feely with you." Rocky promised. If he ever thought that Zhane was trying to win Carri's heart he'd be more than a little unhappy.

"Deal." She said grinning at him. She was glad that they weren't going to start fighting about it all over again. She could have seen how they could have easily gotten into it during the heat of the moment, and if the argument would have started again she would've gone all out.

"Deal." He agreed smiling back and putting his arms around her. He was glad that was done, as after not seeing her for four years the last thing he wanted to do was fight. He regarded her for a moment before leaning in and pressing her lips against his. She returned the kiss and he leaned back as she put her arms around him and brought him close again.

"Shall we finish some of this work?" she asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me." He replied. He let her led him back to the equipment just as Billy was teleporting back in.

"Sorry I was gone so long." He apologized as he arrived and saw Rocky and Carri standing there. Work had kept him their a bit longer than expected and all the arguing and blunders from people he was now thinking about firing had given him a splitting headache. "I see you found some help."

"Yeah I've had Rocky and Zhane lending a hand. We worked until the monster fight." She replied.

"There was a monster fight?" Billy questioned. Usually he was alerted whenever Callisto or Rhianna sent forces to Earth. However if Carri had received the alarm quickly enough it would have disabled the alert.

Rocky let out a slight laugh. "We battled the troll doll monster."

"Although the first monster may have been amusing, I have a feeling she's going to come into her powers and we're going to be in for serious battles." Billy pointed out. He worried about what Rhianna may be capable of, but until she showed her true power there was nothing he could do.

"Yes but until then we can laugh at the troll doll monster." Carri was quick to add. She had found it quite amusing even though it's arrows actually did deliver quite a kick.

Billy smiled at her. "Come on, let's get this finished." He said gesturing to what was left on the Command Chamber floor.

The duo joined him and Zhane eventually followed as they all worked quickly to help Billy finish installing his upgrades.

* * *

Kim stood at the counter at Starbucks, waiting for her coffee. She didn't really want it, but she knew if she went back without it Sandy would be suspicious. She glanced over at Tommy, who was standing beside her waiting for a drink of his own.

"So when are you heading back to Reefside?" she asked giving him a slight smile.

"Oh I'm not." He said quickly smiling back. Kim looked at him slightly confused by his response. Tommy picked up on her expression and continued. "I mean I will eventually but for now I'm renting a place in town. If the attacks are going on in Angel Grove, this is where I need to be."

"That's nice." Kim said as she picked up her coffee. She wasn't sure what to say to Tommy. When they were dating it flowed so easily but now that they're pretending to be just friends it was hard.

Tommy grabbed his coffee and watched as Kim turned to walk out of the coffee shop. He followed closely behind her and as they stepped outside, he fell in beside of her. "It's a nice day out here." He said casually.

"Yeah it is." She replied.

"Too bad we had to spend part of it fighting." Tommy added.

Kim shrugged. "That's the life of a ranger." She replied although she knew that he was as aware of that as she was.

"I think it's great." Tommy said.

"What? The fighting?" Kim questioned having no clue what Tommy was referring to.

"No. Well kind of." Tommy said as he looked over and smiled at her. "For over a week we've been fighting side by side and working really well together. I have to admit, I was kind of nervous about everything. But since we talked it out and we know that we're just friends, we're working like a well oiled machine. You have to admit, that first mission was awkward."

"Yeah it's great to be friends again. It does help on the battle field to be speaking to each other. Especially since we're both leaders." Kim said flashing him a smile. She had no idea where this conversation was going or what Tommy was doing out here with her.

"Not only does us being friends help on the battlefield, but it helps me personally too. For the longest time I thought there was something wrong with me and I didn't want to move on. Since we've talked, it helped me realize that things weren't like I thought they were. I'm not a bad person, I deserve someone." He said looking down at her. She made a face and he quickly continued. "You do too. We both deserve the opportunity to be able to find someone to be happy with."

"We do." She replied, although after all they'd been through together she was surprised that he seemed so willing to just be friends and move on.

"It's great that we can be so mature about it, the just friends thing." Tommy added. "I mean we've put the past behind us. Now we can look toward the future and start dating other people and it won't be awkward. We'll still be friends."

"Of course." She said thankful that they were almost at her work building. She was more than tired of listening to Tommy go on about how they were friends and were moving on. She tuned out Tommy's rambling for the next few minutes until she stood in front of the building. "Well Tommy it was good to walk and talk with you, but I've been gone too long and I need to get back up there."

"Don't want you to get fired." He said with a smile. "I just wanted to catch up with a good friend. Talk some."

"Alright. Well I'll talk to you later then." She said smiling as she walked into the building. She wiped the smile off her face as she approached the elevator. Yeah it was great to be friends and she was so excited to be able to date other people. Kim rolled her eyes to herself as the elevator doors dinged open and she walked in, hitting the button for her floor.

According to Tommy, it was over and they were moving on. She wasn't sure if he really meant it or not, but he sure sounded like it. Maybe he was trying to make her feel better. Who knows. She sighed as the doors opened once again, and she exited and headed toward her office. She didn't get very far before she was stopped.

"That was a long trip for coffee." Sandy said snidely.

"Well it was Starbucks and there was a long line and"

"Ashley wants to see you." Sandy said cutting her off. She wasn't in the mood for her excuses. She had complained to Ashley who promised to take care of it when she got back.

Kim let out another sigh. This day kept getting better and better. "Fine." She replied as she headed off for Ashley's office.

When she arrived the secretary told her to go on in. Kim entered, shutting the door behind her. As the door shut Ashley looked up and smiled. "Hey have a seat." She said gesturing to the chair in front of her.

Kim slouched down in the chair. "I'm so sorry about being gone so long. It's just that we had to go up against our first monster and things were kind of hectic."

"Don't worry about it. Trust me, if anyone understands I do." Ashley promised. She knew Kim's involvement with the rangers would keep her out of the office some. As long as she made it up and the work got done, she didn't care. "I just had to call you in here to keep Sandy off of your case. She's whined about every long break you've taken. I'm sure she wouldn't complain if she knew you were out saving her life."

"Thank you." Kim replied flashing her a smile and relaxing a little bit in her seat.

"So how are things going with the fight?" Ashley asked.

"Like I said they're in the monster making business now. But Rhianna's no worse than her parents yet so it's pretty easy. The Cirranadrones are getting tougher, but we can still handle them. It's just a lot going on. They're serious about revenge and taking over the planet so they want to keep us on our toes." Kim said. She knew that Callisto and Rhianna wouldn't quit pushing until they got their way. Which meant although things seemed relatively easy now, there was an uphill battle in their future.

"So same old same old for now?" Ashley questioned smiling at her. "How about everything else? How's the team doing?"

"The team's fine. Rocky and Carri are together, Carri and I are still close and Jason's good friend's with us, and Tommy and I are just friends and going to start seeing other people." She said trying to smile through clinched teeth.

Ashley picked up on the irritation in her voice. "So you and Tommy are through."

"According to him. We'll see though." She replied. She had been thinking about their relationship, or lack there of, since she spoke to him at his home in Reefside. Now he seemed bent on the just friends concept and she felt confused. Not that he ever gave her any indication that he wanted more than that, but she found it hard to believe that he could just turn the switch off that easily.

Ashley gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well I guess I've kept you long enough for Sandy." She said not wanting to continue the conversation for Kim's sake. "You can head back to your office and work on those ideas of yours."

"Thanks." Kim replied smiling back at her. She stood up and walked out of the office, sighing once more as she headed back to her workspace. She had a monster fight, her immediate boss hates her, and Tommy wants to be just friends. At least the day couldn't get any worse from there.

* * *

Kim pulled up into the driveway in her Pontiac Grand Am. Her father had loaned her money to get a car, as she knew that was the first thing she needed once she got her job. She'd had it for two days and it was a used car, but she loved it and in a few years it would be hers. Cutting the engine off she climbed out of the drivers side just as Carri came bursting through the front door.

"Are we ready to eat? I'm starving." She said flashing her a smile.

"As ready as I'm going to be." Kim said smiling back. The rest of her day was not much to be excited about as Sandy was breathing down her neck the entire time. She was more than ready to go have dinner and clear her head a bit.

"You driving?" Carri asked.

"You know, I think the wind on my face might feel really good at the moment." Kim said. She owed Carri and was more than willing to drive her around, but she knew that sitting in the convertible with the top down she could allow herself to get lost and relax and she really needed that at the moment.

Carri smiled at her. "No problem." She replied hitting the button to unlock her doors. They both climbed in as Carri pulled the top back, then started the engine as they took off. Bulkmeier's wasn't far, and although they had only been there a few times they had both grown to love it. That's why when Carri suggested they have dinner out, it wasn't a hard choice. It didn't take long to get to the restaurant, and when they arrived Carri parked the car and the duo climbed out.

They headed in and were quickly seated. The waitress came over and got drink and food orders, leaving the two girls to chat. Once she was out of earshot, Carri spoke up. "You won't believe my day. Rocky and Zhane saw each other for the first time since the Zordon wave. You can guess that me spending time with someone I slept with didn't go over well with Rocky."

"What happened?" Kim said piping up, excited that she wasn't the only one whose day wasn't peachy.

"We argued, he pretty much wanted me to stay away from Zhane and for him not to come near me. I don't think it's any of his business. He doesn't, nor will he ever, understand what happened up in space. I told him as a Planetary, Zhane has the right to be around." She said purposefully not referring to him as a ranger in the restaurant. She grinned at Kim then continued. "Anyway he apologized later and I gave him an apology, although probably not the world's most meaningful one. We're ok now, but God I really thought he was going to rip Zhane's head off. I mean it's no secret he wasn't thrilled with me hanging out with Jason but he tolerates it. I'd hate to see what he'd do with Zhane."

Suddenly Kim reached across the table and grabbed Carri's hand, a murderous look in her eye. Carri flashed her a smile. "What are you mad at Rocky for getting on Zhane? I know the three of us want to stick together but"

"Not that." Kim practically growled emphasizing each word.

Carri turned to follow her gaze to try and figure out what was causing Kim to grind her teeth and partially tear into her skin with her grip. She saw Jason standing with his arm around a petite brunette. Standing beside him was Tommy and a blonde who was drop dead gorgeous. "Maybe blonde big boobs isn't his date maybe..." Carri let her voice trail off as Tommy pulled the chair out for her, then took the seat next to her and put a hand on her back before scooting in closely. "Wow." Carri said turning back to Kim. "Did you know?" she asked before quickly answering herself. "Obviously you didn't."

"It makes sense. Do you know he walked me back to my office this afternoon, telling me how great it was that we were just friends and how great it was that we could put the past behind us and move on. Of course I didn't know that he was serious and that he meant he was moving on tonight with that tramp." Kim said murderous look still in her eyes.

"Don't let her get to you. I mean please, she's obviously had so many plastic surgeries she looks like her entire body could deflate at any minute." Carri pointed out trying to comfort her friend.

"But I thought we were closer than that, and now this... God I feel like an idiot for thinking for a moment that he might actually still have feelings for me." Kim said leaning back as she felt like hitting herself. She couldn't take her eyes off of the woman that Tommy had brought out his double date.

"He did say that you were cool to move on right?" Carri asked.

"Well yeah but..." Kim started.

"No buts." Carri quickly cut her off. "He obviously wasn't waiting that long before jumping in with someone else. Why should you deny yourself a relationship because of him?"

"Yeah but it's hard to just forget about everything with Tommy and move on." Kim said frowning.

Carri nodded her head in Tommy's direction. "Are we forgetting about blond big boobs? He's perfectly content with being your friend while sleeping with someone else. And if that's the way it's going to be you need to get yourself someone. I mean at least I had Zhane in space, how long has it been since you've been with someone? Forget about Tommy, I'm going to throw you back into the dating world."

"I don't think Rocky will be happy with you going out to singles bars with me." Kim pointed out making a face.

"Who said anything about singles bars? I'm in the production business now. How hard would it be for me to find you a single, sexy man?" Carri said grinning at her.

Kim let out a long heavy sigh as she glanced over at Tommy and his date again. "You're absolutely right. He said we should move on, and he has. Why should I mope over him? I deserve to be just as happy as he is."

"That's the spirit." Carri replied. Kim deserves so much more than to be sitting around the house, depressed because her exboyfriend won't take her back.

"From now on, I'm going to be out there looking. If we're seeing other people, than I should find other people to see." Kim said making a resolution. She would always hold a place in her heart for Tommy, but he obviously really meant it when he said that it was great that they were friends and it was great that they could move on. Now it was time to try and forget about him so that she could be just as happy with someone as he seemed with his tramp.

Kim smiled over at Carri as their dinner came out. She had spent four years in space, where everything was so different. Now that they were back on Earth, things were getting back to normal, or at least normal to them. It was time for her to try and forget about Tommy and start living the life that she deserved.


	6. Brotherly Love

**Author's Notes:** "Brotherly Love" is the next chapter in a series of full of drama chapters. I wrote this chapter a lot faster than expected. I have so much going on in the upcoming chapters I have been excited to get it down on paper and start getting it out to you guys. Anyway I hope everyone enjoys it. As always I love hearing from you guys.  
Also, if you want to go out to my profile page and use the Character Bios link a bio for Josh Hillard has been added.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Brotherly Love"

It was a bright and sunny afternoon in Angel Grove as Carri pulled her car into a parking space in the airport. She climbed out and headed in, walking over to the giant board which listed the arriving and departing flights. It wasn't hard to find the terminal she was looking for. She quickly headed up the stairs and through the concourse, stopping right before the metal detectors and the security guards, who were checking tickets and scanning luggage for entrance to the gates. The wait wouldn't be long, and she could see the gate from there. Flashing the guard a smile she sat in one of the cold plastic chairs along the wall.

She was more than a little exited to be there that morning. She was waiting for a flight from New York, for her brother's flight from New York. He was flying in on a USAir flight and should be arriving any minute. Carri couldn't help but be amused at thinking about the flight and how her brother protested her father's refusal to have the private jet leave Paris early just to take him across country. Not that he minded flying on commercial airlines, he did fly first class, but he enjoyed the privacy and calmness on their jet as opposed to the craziness that tended to occur on commercial flights. Carri couldn't blame him, the last time she flew to New York she spent the entire trip trying to ignore the advances of the man sitting next to her. She had almost thought he was going to chase her through the airport when they landed.

After ten minutes passed she heard them announce the arrival of Josh's flight. She couldn't believe she was finally going to get to see her brother after almost five years. She had only been to New York once since she'd been back, and at the time he was in Australia. Carri glanced out the window and watched as the plane came to a complete stop. A few minutes later passengers started spilling out of the door. She stood as Josh walked out, then watched as he headed past security.

As soon as he saw his sister, Josh dropped his carry-on and went to give her a hug. "I was beginning to think I'd imagined having a little sister." He teased.

"Yeah, yeah." She replied returning the hug. He pulled back and she smiled at him. "So how was your flight?"

"Five minutes of peace followed by hours of me going insane." He said smiling at his little sister as he went to pick up his carry-on. "Just like I told dad it would be."

"Shall we go get your suitcase?" Carri questioned. Now that he was here, she just wanted to get out of the airport and get home.

"You don't have to tell me twice." He replied, his feelings toward standing in the airport about the same as his sisters.

Josh allowed her to lead him back out and toward the baggage claim. "Hopefully this won't take too long. I want to get you settled then we can go for lunch." She said glancing up at the baggage claim, waiting for the red light to go off.

"Where are we eating?" asked Josh.

"Bulkmeier's. It's owned by some guys we went to high school with. It's really good." She said flashing him a smile. "Rocky and Kim are going to join us." she added

"Cool." He replied looking up and waiting as well. He hadn't seen Rocky or Kim in ages. He was surprised that Rocky and Carri had hooked up again so easily when she got back. But then again, just because she didn't keep up with her family while she was traveling around the world didn't mean she didn't keep up with him. He was glad that Kim was going, he hadn't seen her in ages and out of all of his sister's friends that he'd ever met, she was his favorite.

"Finally." Carri muttered as the light came on and the belt whirled, bringing luggage with it. "How many suitcases?" she asked.

He laughed. "Let's not forget, we're not all you. One week equals one suitcase."

She grinned up at her brother. "A girl never knows what kind of situation she will be in, therefore she must be prepared."

"Five outfits for one day is more than prepared. It's insane." He said as he stepped away from her.

Carri laughed as she watched him head over to the baggage claim and pick a piece of luggage up. He pulled the handle out of the top and wheeled it over toward her. "Let's get out of here."

"This way." She replied. They worked their way through the airport crowd and Carri led them back outside. They headed for the parking deck and worked their way through once more until Carri found her car. She clicked a button and her trunk popped open. Josh tossed his stuff in before slamming it shut.

Josh took a few minutes to check the car out as he made his way into the passenger's seat. "Nice car." He commented.

"Thanks." She replied cranking the engine and reversing out of the parking spot.

"How fast does it go?" he asked, an evil smile on his face.

She stopped and shifted gears, returning the smile. "You're about to find out." She replied as she took off.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Carri managed to work her way through traffic to arrive at Rocky's apartment complex. She wanted Josh to drop his things off before they went out to lunch. She felt bad that he couldn't stay with her as Kim stayed in her guestroom. She hadn't wanted him to have to stay in a hotel, and was thrilled when Rocky volunteered to put him up. They had always gotten along and he didn't think twice about letting Josh stay with him.

Carri came to an abrupt stop in a parking space in front of Rocky's building. "So what did you think?" she asked.

"Well when I asked you how fast it went, I didn't mean for you to try and kill me." He replied giving her a sly smile.

Carri crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in a Kim-like fashion. "Please. I never got it above fifth."

"Fine then you just drive like a crazy woman." He joked as he jumped out of the passenger's seat.

"Whatever." She replied stepping out and popping the trunk open once more. Truthfully, she knew exactly what she was doing out on the road. She just got a kick out of screwing around with her brother. After all, little sisters were born to drive older brothers crazy. At least that's what Josh told her when they were kids.

Josh grabbed his things out of the trunk and slammed it down once more. He took a deep breath and thought about how much he missed the warm California sun on his face. Strangely, as much as he loved California he never had the deep desire to move back there like his sister did. He didn't understand it, he always figured she just never adjusted. He couldn't blame her, it didn't take an idiot to see that she was miserable and not herself the few brief years she spent living in the city. The Carri who lived in California was a much different Carri, and as far as he was concerned a much better one. He was glad she wasn't like the girls she hung out with in New York. He knew how they'd grown up, his mother ran in the same social circles their mothers did. They were all prissy and snooty, nothing like his sister.

He turned and looked as his sister gestured for him to follow her. They walked toward the building, up the stairs and down a bit before they stopped. Carri knocked on the door and heard a muffled "come in" from the other side.

She opened the door and greeted Rocky with a big smile as he was walking out of the kitchen. "Hey." She said walking over and putting her arms around him.

"Hey babe." He replied putting his arms around her and giving her a quick kiss. When he finished greeting her he looked up and smiled at Josh. "Hey how's it going?" he asked taking one arm off of Carri and extending it to Josh.

"It's going." He replied with a smile, taking Rocky's had and giving it a firm shake before dropping it. "It has been a long time. How have you been?"

"Same old." Rocky said smiling at him. "I got two new schools, so between all three of them they've been keeping me busy. How about yourself, anything exciting?"

Josh shook his head no. "Same as you. Crammed with a lot of work."

Rocky took his other arm off of Carri and gestured around the apartment. "Let me show you the guest room so you can throw your stuff down."

Josh went toward the door and grabbed his bags. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"No problem." Rocky replied as he led him off.

Carri watched as the two boys exited the area. She headed toward the couch and looked around the apartment. She hadn't really spent much time in his apartment in the month they'd been back together. She figured it had to do with the fact that Jessica probably spent a lot of time there and she didn't really care to.

She flopped down on the end of the couch to wait for the boys. As she sat she noticed that the middle pillow was falling off. She chuckled to herself as she thought about how although Rocky wasn't messy, he didn't spend a lot of time straightening up. She lifted the middle pillow up to push it back. As she did, something caught her eye.

After she pulled it out of the couch she put the pillow back in place, then pinched the item with two fingers and lifted it up to examine it. As she was realizing that it was a piece of underwear a bit more raunchy than anything she'd ever worn, Rocky came walking out in the livingroom.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he realized she was holding up a pair of another woman's underwear. "Where did you find that?"

She gave him a look. "In the couch pillows." She said as she held it out like it was carrying some sort of disease.

"Baby I swear I didn't cheat on you. Jessica never payed attention to her underwear and it must have got stuck there and I would never look for it and"

"I believe you." She said. She new that he loved her, and never dug through the couch looking for stuff, not to mention he really didn't have time to cheat. "I just want you to make these go away." She said making a face.

Rocky quickly grabbed them out of her hand and threw them in the trash can. He didn't think Jessica would miss them and he didn't really care. He walked back over to her and smiled. "So you're not mad?"

"Of course not." She said smiling back. "But just out of curiosity, did you two have sex on the couch?"

"Yeah why?" he asked. She didn't reply, only made a face as she stood up and went to sit in the recliner. Rocky found himself slightly amused by the fact that she didn't want to sit where they had sex. "The chair too." Although it was true, the only reason he told her was to see her reaction.

She made a grunting noise and rolled her eyes as she walked over and plopped into a chair in the dining room, propping her elbows up on the table. She couldn't stand Jessica and she seriously didn't want to touch any place that her bare parts touched.

"Carri I hate to tell you this but..." Rocky let his voice trail off as he looked at the dining room table and gave her a goofy grin. The table wasn't the truth but he was having too much fun with her at this point.

"You're kidding? On the table we bought?" she asked as he nodded his head yes. "That's just wrong." She said scoldingly as she stood up. "This whole apartment needs to get attacked with a bottle of Lysol before it's sanitary for people to sit in here. I'll be in the car. You guys come out when you're ready."

"Ok." Rocky replied as he watched her flash a half smile before heading out the door. He waited until it shut before he burst out laughing. Once he calmed down, he went to sit on the couch to wait on Josh.

It wasn't long before Josh appeared back in the living room. "Where'd Carri go?" he asked looking around.

"She's in the car." He replied.

"You two get into a fight or something?" Josh asked.

"Nope. I just disgusted her with all the places my ex and I may or may not have had sex." Rocky replied trying not to laugh again.

Josh didn't hold back as he let out a roaring laugh. Knowing Carri it didn't take much of Rocky's antics for her to get fed up with it and leave. He just wished he could have seen the look on his sister's face as Rocky was telling her these things.

"You ready to go to lunch?" Rocky asked. It was around one thirty and he was starving.

"Sure let's go." Josh replied. He waited as Rocky grabbed his keys, wallet and phone. Both men then headed out the door and back down to the parking lot where Carri was waiting for them.

* * *

Kim sat at a table at Bulkmeier's waiting for her lunch dates to arrive. Well they weren't really dates, just friends. Kim hadn't been on a date in years. She refused to count the lame affair one of the girls at work set up for her. The man had been a total bore and she had paid for everything. The girl at work apologized, he had been a friend of a friend and she had no clue he was such a loser.

Kim sighed. It was just as well, she couldn't imagine juggling dating a civilian and being a ranger anyways. Of course Tommy had been dating blonde big boobs for the last three weeks. She didn't ask him about it, although she hadn't hesitated to drill Jason. Jason told her that he was trying to help his friend get back in the swing of things, to which Kim pointed out while helping one friend he was doing nothing but aggravating the other. From what Jason told her they had been out on a few dates but he didn't think it was serious.

Still to Kim, blond big boobs was serious. The more she thought about her, the more she thought about how she deserved something serious. It was just going to be difficult to find it. She supposed it was partially her fault, as she hadn't made the time to go looking for anyone. Carri promised that in the near future she would take her and introduce her to some of the guys that worked for her. There was no guarantee that the guys working for Carri would be any better than the one the girl at work set her up with. It was hard to find a decent person anymore.

Kim propped her elbow on the table and rested her head in the palm of her hand while using her other hand to mindlessly stir the straw in her drink. There were four menus strewn around the table. None of them had been opened yet. Kim wasn't going to even bother thinking about what she wanted to eat until they got there, it would only make her hungrier.

Josh's flight had gotten pushed back that morning so it arrived later than they had anticipated when they first decided on meeting for lunch. Which was alright, but Kim would've held on for breakfast if she knew lunch was going to be forever. Carri called not too long ago saying that they were at Rocky's and as soon as the boys were ready they'd be heading that way. Then she droned on about Rocky's apartment needing disinfecting. Before she could actually tell a story that made sense she said she had to go and the phone clicked.

Who knew what that had to do with. She was sure she would find out eventually as Carri would still want to share it and Kim was now curious to hear it. As she thought about it she stretched her hands above her head and looked around. It was a nice Saturday afternoon. It was so nice that Jason was spending a day on the lake with some girl.

Kim shook her head as she thought about Jason and his dates. He had taken out several different girls since he they had been back. She and Carri had gotten on him about that. He assured them that he wasn't taking them out for sex, that he was just trying to find the right girl to explore a relationship with. Carri said privately to Kim that she thought it had something to do with the fact that he had been in and out of ranger activities over the years and was now active again. He wouldn't want to get a woman involved in all that, regardless of whether she knew his secret, unless he knew she was right for him. She basically thought he didn't want another Emily. Kim agreed, he probably didn't want to pull a woman into his life, to have her unknowingly risk hers by being with him, just to crush him in the end. It wasn't worth it and she didn't blame him.

"Hey!" a voice called out, pulling Kim out of her thoughts.

"Hey." Kim said back as she waved at her oncoming friends.

Carri approached and took a seat next to her. "Sorry we're late." She said as Rocky set down as well.

"Hey Kim." A voice said from the side as he walked behind Kim's seat to take the chair beside of her.

Kim turned to see Josh standing there. "Hey how are you." She greeted as she stood up to give an old friend a hug. As he pulled her in for a hug she got close to his neck and realized how nice he smelled that day. He relinquished his embrace and she stood back, flashing him a quick smile before sitting.

"I'm doing good. Still working for dad in New York." Josh said answering her question as he sat down and looked Kim over. The last time he'd seen her was the last time he saw his sister. She had always been cute, but now she has grown into quite an attractive woman. He tried not to think about his sister's friend that way as he gave her a smile and continued. "And yourself?"

"Pretty good. I've been working for Ashley Hammond. And Carri's been kind enough to put me up." She said as she took a moment to check him out as well. She had been with Tommy all the years she knew Josh so she really never paid him much attention before, but now she was noticing all his attractive features.

"I would tell you how sorry I am that you have to live with her but after the first time I'm sure you were well aware of what you were getting in to." He joked. He noticed that she was kind of gazing at him, and he couldn't help but gaze back.

Carri gave Rocky a look, one that neither her brother nor her friend noticed. She wasn't sure what to make of the soft smiles and googly eyes they were giving each other, and she definitely wasn't sure if she liked it. "So should we order our drinks?" she asked trying to pull them back to the rest of the table as she flagged down a waitress.

"Of course." Josh said giving Kim another smile before looking over at his sister. "So you say this place is good?"

"Absolutely fabulous. We eat here all the time." Kim replied as she opened up her menu.

The waitress came over and took the drink orders as everyone else opened their menu's as well. A few seconds later the waitress returned with their drinks and took their orders, before leaving them to talk amongst themselves.

Josh tapped his glass with his spoon. "I have an announcement." He said once the waitress was gone.

Carri looked at him oddly. She hoped the announcement wasn't "I'm going to move to California to try and date Kim."

"Dad was going to tell you earlier, but I said I would love to be the one to share the news." Josh continued. That got his sister's complete attention as she was now solely focused on him. "TLC has picked up your show. They're going to air eight episodes in the summer and they'll order twelve more for January if it's a success. And," he said holding up a finger to keep Carri from exploding before he finished, "you got your first sponsor. Travelocity."

Carri couldn't hold it any longer as she let out a yell. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"

"Congratulations babe." Rocky said as he leaned over and pulled her close, giving her a quick kiss.

Kim reached over and squeezed her best friends hand. "Yeah that's awesome."

Josh looked over and made eye contact with Kim and smiled as he waited a few minutes for Carri's excitement to calm down. "Which means dad thinks you should go ahead and start production on episode two bright and early Monday morning."

"Wow." She said absorbing it all. "I have people I have to call. Give me a minute I'll be back." She said as she excitedly grabbed her cell phone so she could start spreading the word around her crew

"That's just incredible. I hope it works." Rocky said.

"We love it. The networks love it. TLC made her the best offer though. It's not technically official until she reads the terms and signs the dotted line, but the execs at TLC should have all the paperwork signed and a copy to both her and dad by Monday morning." Josh explained.

Rocky nodded and smiled. "That's just so great for her."

"So what about you?" Kim questioned turning toward Josh. "Are you producing anything under your own name or are you still working for your father?"

"Strangely enough Carri was the one of us who loves the production stuff and loves the idea of having her own company. Which will be good for her. This show's her personal project at the moment but her company will be able to take on so much more and she's going to love it." Josh replied. "Personally I like being heavily involved with one project from start to finish. So I'm still mainly helming a television drama for dad."

"Wow that sounds like a lot of fun. And it's always nice to do something you love." Kim said admiring his work.

Josh tried not to blush as he took in Kim's words. It was nice to talk to a woman who didn't say "wow you must make a ton of money" as soon as he told her what he did. "It is a lot of fun. And I get to work with Adam a lot." Josh said turning toward Rocky for a moment.

"Adam said he's having a lot of fun working with you guys." Rocky replied. He didn't get to see his best friend as much ever since he started working as a producer for Hilltop Productions because his schedule was often full. Between Adam's work and Tanya's tour schedule, the Park's were rarely in California.

"If you can get into the business, it is easy for the work to be fun." Josh replied. "Of course that can be said about partially any job you can find. "Just like I'm sure that for someone who loves clothes and shopping just as much as you do," he started turning and smiling for Kim, "working for Ashley Hammond has got to be the time of your life."

"Well." Kim started letting out a slight laugh. "Don't get me wrong I love what I do and I adore working for Ashley. It's just that the woman working above me can be a slight bitch."

"I'm sure she's not that bad." Josh replied giving her a sympathetic smile.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Trust me. She's hated me from the beginning and she loathes the fact that Ashley likes me. She wants me to be miserable."

"Well as long as you like your job and Ashley likes you, things will be alright." He assured her momentarily gazing into her eyes.

"Alright." Carri said snapping them away from each other as she approached. "I've started the train going, everyone should know within the hour." She said as she took a seat back at the table. "This is just unreal."

"You earned it." Josh assured her.

"Still I can't believe," before Carri could finish her sentence communicators went off for the three rangers. Carri sighed and glanced down at it for a brief second before looking up at Josh. "I'm sorry we'll be right back."

"What? All three of you?" he asked. Suddenly he started to get the strangest sense of deja vu. He looked over at his sister with a slightly angry expression. "Wait, are you..."

"I'm sorry we'll explain later." She whispered as they took off.

He watched them until they were out of sight, than watched as the pink, yellow and blue streaks flew through the sky. He sat there in silence and shook his head. He couldn't believe that his sister was involved again with the power rangers. He always thought rangers were younger than that, not to mention she had more important things to worry about than saving the world. Plus he certainly didn't miss the days of trying to find the Angel Grove news, looking up anything he could about monster attacks to see if his sister was dead or alive.

Not only her but her friends, Kim... he shook his head. He wasn't sure if he should think about Kim that much. He wasn't sure if she liked him like that. And what about Tommy, weren't they attached at the hip? Of course she was checking him out as well, so maybe that fell through. Maybe he should ask her out. However he wasn't sure if he could handle worrying all the time about his sister and his girlfriend. Maybe it was worth it. He sighed and looked toward the sky. Only two hours back in California and already everything was complicated.

* * *

The pink, blue and yellow Turbo rangers arrived on the scene slightly after the red and green rangers got there. They found themselves face to face with a monster who called himself Bearinator, and looked like a cross between a grizzly bear and the metallic parts of the terminator.

Kim looked at the monster and shrugged to herself. Rhianna had yet to make anything that she deemed frightening, but this one was a step up from the last one. The last one was part fish and it kind of reminded her of one of Zedd's worthless monsters from a long time ago. This one at least looked like it could kill you. Eventually though Rhianna would get the hang of it, which was a rather upsetting thought.

"What's his deal?" Carri asked.

"He shoots lasers out of his eyes and shocks you with electricity with a swipe of his claws." Tommy said after being thrown back from a claw swipe.

"Just great." Carri replied with a sigh. Hopefully they could take care of him quickly and she could get back to her brother. If the monster didn't kill her, Josh looked like he was going to.

Fortunately for Carri's sake Cratus and Goldar had declined to show up this time, they had only sent down Bearinator and about a dozen or so Cirranadrones. Carri went to face the Bearinator along with Tommy, while the other three rangers went to hopefully make quick work of the Cirranadrones.

Jason started to fight in hand to hand combat with the Cirranadrones. There was something different about them that day, they seemed somewhat stronger. Jason shook his head as he thought about how Kim and Carri kept saying Callisto wanted to make them perfect. He hated to see what perfect was. For now though they were just a strong pain in the ass. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Tommy and Carri attack the Bearinator, only to get slashed back by its claws. He was sure they could use some help and he didn't want to fool with Cirranadrones, so he decided to call on his weapons and make quick work of the warriors.

Kim kicked a Cirranadrone back as she stood in a group of them. She couldn't concentrate on the Cirranadrones as her mind kept drifting to Josh. She wasn't sure if she should even be thinking those kind of thoughts about her best friend's brother. As she pushed a few more Cirranadrones back she stopped and shook her head forcefully as if she could get the thoughts to go away. Carri was going to kill her for having those kind of thoughts if the distraction of the thoughts themselves didn't get her killed on the battlefield. Of course Carri did want her to move on and be happy. And she did say she was going to introduce her to someone. So if Kim and Josh ended up together then Carri would probably actually be happy for them.

Kim's thoughts got the better of her as a Cirranadrone suddenly kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying. She grunted as she hit the hard ground with a thud. She knew one thing for sure, and that was that she had to hurry and take care of these guys before the thoughts got her in trouble. Stepping it up a notch, Kim called for her Turbo weapons as she ran back into battle.

On the other side of the battlefield, the monster fight raged on. Carri and Tommy both flew back with another swipe from the Bearinator's claws. Carri growled as she stood back up. "That's it. I've had enough of his shit."

"You're preaching to the choir." Tommy told her. He was definitely done with this monster as well. An idea came to him. "How many weapons can you hold in your hands?"

"Why?" Carri asked looking at him curiously and raising an eyebrow under her helmet.

"Why don't we hit the bastard with everything we got." He replied. His thought was to slash him with their Turbo Blades before shooting him with the Auto Blaster and finishing off by hitting him with the full power of their Turbo weapons.

"I like the way you think." Carri said grinning at the red ranger.

The two wasted no time before going to attack. It worked almost exactly as Tommy had planned, with them issuing the final blows before bouncing back off Bearinator as he fell down. They stood there feeling like they had accomplished a job well done.

Tommy glared at the monster, suppressing the urge to groan."He's getting up?" he questioned as the monster recovered.

"How about testing out the Turbo Ram cannon mode?" Jason suggested coming up on the duo from behind. Billy had introduced the Ram the previous week and told them about the cannon mode on it, they just hadn't had a chance to use it yet.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Tommy replied.

Kim and Rocky joined their teammates just as they were calling for the Turbo ram cannon mode. They pooled their weapons then fired the cannon, knocking the monster down. A few seconds later he was standing high above them. They called on their zords and took him down for good before returning back to their Saturday afternoons.

* * *

Josh sat in the restaurant alone waiting for the others to return. The waitress came over and put their plates of food down and Josh flashed her a smile as she looked oddly at the three empty seats. He looked heavenward and sighed after she walked away. A few seconds later three figures hurried over to the table.

"Sorry." Carri apologized as she sat down and pulled her chair back up to the table. When she was situated she flashed her brother a smile.

Josh looked at her sternly. "So were you going to tell me about this if I didn't find out?"

"Of course... well..." Carri stopped and sighed before continuing. "No I wasn't. I didn't want to worry you."

Josh couldn't help but shake his head at her. "You're too old for this. Not to mention you have a job and a life to worry about. And friends and family and a boyfriend who all care. Why would you want to go back to that? Besides after spending four years traveling the world you would think you would want to settle down in some sort of normal life."

"Yeah." She started drawing out every letter of the word. "About that. You see, I wasn't exactly traveling the world. More like the galaxy. It was all related to." She didn't say a word as she simply pointed to her communicator, a gesture which Josh understood. "I was going to try and find Callisto to kill her before she could get here to kill me. I thought I did but I guess I was wrong because now here she is and I'm out there trying to take care of her." She explained leaving out the part about how she actually enjoys ranger duty regardless of the bad guy and doesn't mind fitting in real life around ranger responsibility.

"What about the postcards?" Josh asked referring to the ones his family received from her monthly from countries around the world.

"Billy fabricated those." She said with a sigh. He had used her writing style and the way she speaks to create them and send them to her family so that they wouldn't worry about her.

"I can't believe you were out there alone in space for four years." Josh said in disbelief.

"Actually she wasn't alone." Kim pipped up giving him a smile. "Zhane, a friend from KO-35 was with her. And me."

The two girls he thought were worth worrying about were out in space doing ranger missions, putting their lives in danger daily... it was a big much to digest. "Well it all makes sense. Kat's wedding, grandma's funeral... no wonder you didn't show."

"There was nothing that could have gotten me to come home from my mission. I was doing it to protect my life, yours, the rest of my family, my friends, hell even the world. That was much more important than a wedding or a funeral. I know it's hard for you to understand since you've never been one of us. I'm just asking you to trust that I had to do it and forgive me." She said doing her best to give some sort of apology. Apologizing for something that she didn't feel sorry about doing was not something easy for her. But when it was for someone she cared about she would try. She supposed she eventually had to do it with Kat as well.

It didn't sit easy with him, and now he was going to have to worry about his sister as a ranger again. But she was still his sister and he did still love her which is why he couldn't help but forgive her. He let out a sigh before he spoke. "Just keep me in the loop alright?"

"So you don't hate me?" she asked giving him a smile.

"I don't hate you. You're just aggravating as hell that's all. Of course I've known that for twenty eight years now." Josh said with a smile.

Kim suddenly reached out and put one hand on Josh's and one hand on Carri's. "Since that's said and done, let's eat before our food gets ice cold." She said.

"Hear hear." Rocky agreed. He didn't say anything one way our the other during their discussion. He hadn't really felt like it was his place, it was their disagreement and they should take care of it.

Josh looked down at Kim's hand on his before looking up and making eye contact, flashing her a huge grin. Kim removed her hand from Carri's before grinning back and letting her hand linger on his for a few seconds.

"Hey Kim." Josh said as she removed her hand from his. She smiled at him and once he was sure he had her full attention he continued. "How would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

Kim didn't even notice the clanging of the silverware on the ground on Carri's side of the table. She blushed at him as she formulated a response. "That would be great."

"Seven ok?" Josh questioned.

"Seven's good." Kim replied.

Josh grinned at her. "You may have to pick me up as I don't have a ride."

"Not a problem." Kim told him.

Neither party noticed as Carri crawled into the floor to get her fork, shooting Rocky a look on her way down. Rocky just smiled at her and she sighed. When she told Kim to move on, she wasn't expecting it to be with her brother.

* * *

Jason pulled his motorcycle away from his parking spot by the lake and sighed. He was leaving alone, which was definitely not the way he had planned the afternoon. He had taken a pretty girl named Amber to the lake and was planning on spending the entire day with her. They had met at a bar the previous weekend and talked on the phone a few times during the week. He thought she had potential, but it didn't take long for him to change his mind about her.

She was more than aggravated when he returned from fighting the monster. She didn't understand how he could have disappeared without a trace for so long with no good explanation of where he was. Knowing that a relationship with him meant a lot of disappearing, Jason told her that if she didn't except the fact that he sometimes had important things to do, then maybe they should just end the date right there. So she called a cab and he took off on his motorcycle.

It was for the best. It was going to be hard for Jason to find a woman that he could completely trust and want to be with, while at the same time she could trust him when he ran off to answer his communicator. Ever since Emily broke his heart he had been very picky about the kind of women he wanted to be with in long term relationships. He had always tried to keep up with what went on in the ranger world, he even ran a mission with them. Now here he was a full fledged ranger again.

To get a woman involved in his life was dangerous. Bad guys had a tendency to go after the ones you cared most about. He figured he really wanted to be able to love and trust someone before he would even think about pulling them into a life where just by being with him they were unknowingly putting themselves in danger everyday. Jason especially didn't want to go through the cycle of having to protect someone, them maybe even finding out his secret, only to find them in bed with another man. Which is why for now he was just going on a lot of dates.

He sighed as he barreled toward Tommy's apartment. He was going to try and get Tommy to go out and have a drink with him before he went on a date. He couldn't believe Tommy was taking out Danielle again. Or blonde big boobs as Carri called her and had gotten Kim to start calling her. There wasn't anything really between them, at least he didn't think there was. Of course they'd find out the first time Tommy got called to ranger duty while on a date. That was when things usually went to hell. Tommy has no idea what it's like to date someone who's not in the ranger circle. The only two girls he has seriously dated were Kim and Kat, and they were both rangers at the time. Things change when you're with someone on the outside.

Jason parked his motorcycle outside of Tommy's apartment before heading up and knocking on his door. He waited a few seconds before he got an answer.

"Hey bro what are you doing here?" Tommy asked. He was in the middle of working on some of his research and was surprised to see his friend standing there.

"Getting you for a beer." Jason replied. After a bad afternoon it was always better to down beers with friends. Since Kim and Carri were unavailable, he was dragging Tommy whether he liked it or not.

"I've got stuff to finish then I've got a date with Danielle tonight." Tommy said trying to reject his beer offer.

"First it's Saturday. Second you don't have anything better to do in Angel Grove than work so you might as well come with me." Jason pointed out. Ever since Tommy had gotten his PhD he concentrated on nothing but work. The few times Jason had spoken with him had been brief and he had tried his hardest to stay professional. Now that they were all in Angel Grove and all back together again, Tommy needed to try and remember how to enjoy life. Danielle was certainly helping, but Jason was going to try and get Tommy to remember to have a good time if it killed him.

Tommy stood there for a moment before letting out a long sigh. Jason smiled at him, satisfied in knowing that he won. "Fine let me grab my keys. I'll go for a beer." Tommy replied. It wouldn't hurt anything to go for a beer with Jason. As long as he was back for his date with Danielle. He was having fun going out with her. He didn't find her serious relationship material and he didn't think she thought of him that way either, but for now they was definitely having a good time.

"Good." Jason said as he watched Tommy walk off in search of his keys. He had a bar in mind that would be the perfect place for him to forget about that afternoon's date. He waited for his friend then the duo took off, with Jason trying to make the most out of his ruined afternoon.

* * *

Callisto sighed as she sat in her chair and looked over the planet Earth. Bearinator turned out just as useless as their previous attempts. The monsters were getting better though, as the rangers did have some difficulty with Bearinator. But much like the others, he went down in the end.

If Cratus and Goldar weren't searching the galaxy for something to help improve the Cirranadrones, she would have had them in the fight too. Of course that was more important that another failed monster attack. She was going to step production up a notch. She had figured out a way to make her creations stronger, faster and even smarter. Which meant that in upcoming battles they were going to give the rangers more trouble than they ever had before.

She knew enough to realize that making better Cirranadrones wasn't a magical guarantee that they would defeat the rangers more easily. They could always power up, or they could be stronger than what they were letting on. Besides Callisto wasn't stupid, she knew these were master rangers and wouldn't go down as easily as some of the other rangers across the galaxy did.

Still it made her feel better to be able to continue to work on her Cirranadrones. With each step she took she was getting closer to perfection. And that was her goal, to build the ultimate warrior.

Although in the end none of that would really matter. If she couldn't get the Cirranadrones to destroy the rangers, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that by the time she was done with Rhianna she would wipe them out. Callisto was going to get her revenge, and Rhianna was going to get her planet. She knew Rhianna's interest in Earth was purely do to her parents previous interest. There were planets across the galaxy that were much easier to conquer and who's status was much higher than that of Earth.

Of course Callisto was grateful for Rhianna's interest in Earth and the Turbo rangers. That was what gave her an ally that was going to end up being very powerful and very destructive.

* * *

Later that night Kim and Josh walked out of what was probably the most expensive restaurant in town. Kim had never been there before, she never even had anyone volunteer to take her. Josh had told her before they parted after lunch to wear something really nice. She assumed they were going somewhere fancy but never expected this.

Dinner had been absolutely fabulous. She couldn't believe how much she clicked with Josh. He was gorgeous and charming and so incredibly sweet. She didn't even mind when he led her in the opposite direction of the car. Josh put and arm around her as they walked and she easily fell into him.

"So where are we going?" Kim asked as she smiled up at him. It really didn't matter to her, she was mostly just making conversation.

"To enjoy the view." Josh said as he gestured toward the lake. The restaurant was located in a ritzy shopping area at the far end of Angel Grove Lake. There was an amazing view and it was a beautiful night to go sit out in one of the gazebos with someone you cared about.

"Sounds nice." Kim said absentmindedly. For the first time in a long time she was with someone and didn't feel like she had a care in the world. She couldn't believe that she would allow herself to feel this way about Josh so quickly. Suddenly Josh stopped and took his arm off of Kim. She turned to see what had gotten his attention.

Josh was standing at a vendor buying a dozen pink roses for his favorite pink ranger. He handed the man some cash and turned to Kim with a smile on his face. "I got them in your color." He teased. He knew well enough to know that as rangers they tended to stick toward their ranger colors. Even though Kim was wearing a red dress that night. Red was only a darker shade of pink, and it didn't matter as the dress was stunning and she looked amazing in it no matter what color.

Kim blushed as she took the flowers and proceeded to smell them. She was glad that it was too dark out for Josh to actually see her blush. "They're beautiful, thank you."

"Anything for you." He replied, putting his arm back around her and leading her off once again. He smiled down at her as she studied the flowers. He was thrilled that he'd had the opportunity to ask her out. She was the kind of woman he could see himself with long term. He pulled her in a little closer as they headed toward the lake. Scanning the area he found an empty gazebo which he led Kim to. They entered and sat on the bench, staring out over the lake.

"Thank you." Kim said softly after a few moments.

Josh leaned back and put an arm around her, watching as she rested her head on it. "For what?"

"Tonight. It's been one of the most wonderful nights in a long time." She replied as she looked down at the flowers in her hand. It had been a while since she had allowed herself to drift away from the realities she was faced with everyday. Not once had her job or Callisto and Rhianna crossed her mind.

"The night's not over yet." Josh pointed out.

Kim turned so he hopefully wouldn't see her blush yet again. When she turned back towards him, his face was close to hers. She looked into his eyes and smiled softly at him. He smiled back before leaning in and grazing her lips with his. They kissed softly at first, then both of them leaned in for a very passionate embrace. They were so swept up in the moment that everything around them lost meaning. When they finally parted they sat there staring into each others eyes.

The wind around them picked up and Kim shivered. "Maybe I should get back to the house. Besides these flowers need water." Josh nodded and Kim could see the sad look in his eye. "You're welcome to join me. Carri and Rocky are out on a date, we'd have the house to ourselves." The duo had gone out to dinner and to a club, where they were going to meet up with some of the other people from Carri's show. They planned on having a celebration, and Kim didn't expect to see her roommate until late.

"I'd like that." Josh said. He took his hand and gently brushed her arm with the tips of his fingers, following it all the way down until his hand met hers. Slipping his fingers in between hers he gave it a squeeze before standing up and pulling her with him.

They walked hand in hand back to Kim's car. Josh opened the passengers side door for her before climbing into the drivers seat and leading them off. Kim directed them back to Carri's house, which wasn't too far away from the restaurant. Josh pulled into the driveway and rushed around to her side so that he could open the door for her.

He stopped for a moment, only to get a glimpse of the house that his sister had bought. He felt Kim take his hand and he turned back toward her and let her guide him to the front door. She unlocked the door and the duo walked in. Kim quickly flicked on a few lights. "Welcome to casa de Carri." She said with a smile as she took her flowers into the kitchen so that she could dig out a vase. She hoped she could figure out where Carri ended up putting them.

Josh took a few moments to walk around the living room and glance out onto the back porch. "I have to say I'm impressed." He said as he turned toward Kim and smiled. "Just don't tell her that."

She grinned at him as she pulled a vase out and ran water in it. "She's already got enough to get big headed about with her show, I won't add nice house to the mix." She joked. She put the vase aside and placed the flowers in it before walking out into the livingroom and smiling at Josh. "I'll be right back."

Josh watched as she walked away, then took the time to look at some more of what his sister had done around the house. As he stood there he thought he heard Kim say something but he couldn't be sure. "What?" he called out.

The response he got was much of the same. Josh figured he'd have to go see what was going on so he headed off in the direction of the bedrooms. Light was pouring out of one of the rooms so he headed in and saw Kim standing there. "What?" he questioned once he was face to face with her.

Kim looked startled for a second, she hadn't been expecting him. "I said give me a second I'll be out there."

"Oh. Sorry." He apologized for taking it upon himself to walk into her room.

"It's ok." She assured him as he turned to leave.

Josh turnd back around and started to look around the bedroom Kim was staying in. He smiled to himself as he recognized the furniture. Their grandmother had bought it for her two granddaughters to sleep in as well as the other young females in the family. She had gotten it with Carri in mind, as she was her favorite. She called Carri her little princess and purchased a bedroom set to convey that. She made the room up and told Carri that it was her room.

Kat loved the bedroom set as well, and had been more than a little angry that it had been willed to Carri upon her grandmother's death. Especially considering Carri hadn't seen her in forever. She had a hard time believing that Carri was still her princess considering she had been the one who had called and wrote and visited over the years. Despite Kat's protest, their family had stuck to their grandmother's wishes and turned the set over to Carri. Josh had helped his father get the stuff back to the states, where they placed it in Carri's storage unit until she returned.

Now here it was in her guest bedroom. She had slightly changed the furniture. The pink lace had been removed from both dressers, the mirror and the night stand. She had also removed the pink canopy from the bed. It was obvious that she had taken it somewhere and had it sanded then repainted in the same shade of white with a glossy finish that it didn't originally have. He was glad that she was taking such good care of it. It had all gotten more than its share of use over the years, especially the bed. With the canopy on there, the kids loved to jump on it and play games. More than once the weight of several children jumping on that bed had caused the frame to crack. He was surprised that the frame and the posts were still salvageable.

Josh turned toward Kim and noticed again how stunning she looked in that dress. She was standing over the dresser taking her jewelry off. She paused to turn toward him and flash him a smile. "What?" she questioned while grinning at him.

"Nothing." He said giving her a smile back. "I was just thinking about how beautiful you look, that's all."

Kim was losing track of the number of times Josh was causing her to blush. She turned away from him again as she put her earrings down. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself you know." She replied as she took a deep breath and turned back.

"Well I suppose that's a compliment." Josh said with a grin as he walked over toward her.

"You would suppose right." Kim replied as she gave him a grin back.

Josh stood in front of her smiling and found himself staring into her eyes once again. Without thinking about it, he cupped her face in his and pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers for another passionate kiss.

As he pulled away Kim paused for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him back toward her. She kissed him forcefully as she felt his hands fall down to her hips, pulling her in and kissing her some more. She had no idea what was going on around her, only that they weren't standing in one place. Suddenly she felt Josh lift her up and put her on the bed on her back.

Kim ignored the cracking noise that the bed made when she hit the mattress as she was waiting for him to climb on top of her. Slowly he made his way toward her, kissing every inch of her body on the way up. Kim grabbed his body once he reached her lips, swinging him around so that she was on top of him.

It didn't take long before she could feel his fingers running down her bare back. She had been so enthralled with him she hadn't even realized that he'd unzipped her dress. Kim didn't have a care in the world as she let him pull the straps off of her shoulders. She leaned down and started unbuttoning the buttons on his dress shirt, kissing him softly on the chest.

Josh pulled her dress off and turned her back over. They both started removing clothing from one another and it didn't take long before they were intimate. The sex was hot and heavy, and neither were paying attention to the sounds around them. Which is why both were surprised when in the middle of it all, the mattress fell to the floor.

"What the hell?" Kim said as she and Josh started to look around them. Kim jumped up once she realized that the metal bedframe had pulled right out of the wooden posts of the bed. Both the headboard and the footboard were leaning in, with the tips of the posts meeting near their heads. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed as she jumped up. "Carri's going to kill me!"

"Don't worry about it." Josh said as he sat up and took her hand in his. "I'll take care of her tomorrow. We still have the rest of the night and the mattress still works." He pointed out grinning at her.

Kim thought for a moment. He was right. Carri would hopefully get over it. And Kim wasn't about to let a little broken bed get in the way of one of the most romantic night's she'd had in years. "You're right." She replied. Kim allowed Josh to pull her back down to the bed and they picked up right where they left off.

* * *

Carri walked groggily out of her room just before eleven the next morning. It had been a late night as she was celebrating with some of her cast and crew TLC's announcement to pick up the show. She had stayed until well after the club closed, making sure that everyone with her group who was drunk had a safe way home. Rocky dropped her off around four, and by four thirty she was out cold. She got up shortly after ten and took a shower before heading out into the world of the living. She was going to try and get her cup of coffee in before Rocky came by.

As she walked through the living room heading straight for the kitchen and the coffeepot, she noticed Kim sitting on the couch as though she was on cloud nine. Carri raised an eyebrow as she passed. "How was your date?" she questioned figuring that was the reason for Kim's good mood.

"Good." She replied. Actually it had been more than good, it had been wonderful. Dinner was fabulous, he bought her roses, the lake was pretty, the sex was... well the sex was amazing. They probably didn't go to sleep until around six. They heard Carri wonder in sometime around four, but by that point they were just sitting up talking. They talked for hours before they finally drifted off. Josh got up that morning before his sister so he could get out and return without her noticing. "Josh is bringing me breakfast." She added.

"That's nice." Carri said thinking about how it would have been kind for her brother to bring her breakfast as well. It didn't matter though, she was going to leave with Rocky soon. She made her way to the coffeepot and noticed the roses in the vase on the counter. "Did Josh give you these?"

"Yeah he bought them for me last night. Isn't that great?" she said beaming as she thought about it.

Carri shrugged although Kim didn't see it. "Yeah that was good of him." She replied. She didn't realize her brother was such the romantic. She also couldn't believe that he gave her a dozen pink roses on the first date.

It didn't take Carri long to fix herself a cup of coffee. She brought it out to the livingroom and curled up on the recliner, closing her eyes and getting a whiff of it before taking a few sips in an attempt to wake up.

Kim watched as Carri drank some of her coffee, then sat the cup down on a coaster on one of the end tables. She smiled at her for a few seconds and Carri looked at her oddly. "What?" she asked trying to figure out what was going on with Kim. She found it hard to believe that she was that enthralled with her brother.

"We had sex." Kim blurted out. She couldn't keep that from her best friend any longer, even though she was afraid of how she would react.

"What?" Carri asked as her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. She never in a million years thought that they would be having sex.

"And, well, as long as we're on the topic... how much did you like that bed?" Kim said giving her a nervous smile.

Carri raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She was pretty sure she didn't like the way this was going in the slightest.

Kim grabbed her hand and stood her up, hooking her arm into Carri's as she led her into the bedroom. "I hope you're not mad. It was an accident." Kim said as she walked into the doorframe and hit the lights

Carri was in shock as she looked at her childhood bed and realized that the mattress was in the floor and the footboard and headboard had practically collapsed on top of it. "What the hell happened?" she asked her tone suggesting she was far from happy.

"We were having sex and the next thing you know..." Kim let her voice trail off as she took her hands made a motion that suggested that the bed fell down.

"You and Josh were in my bed and you broke it and" Carri wasn't sure how to convey her feelings so she let out an agitated yell.

"Carri?" a concerned voice called out from the other side of the house. A few seconds later Rocky appeared by the bedroom. Carri turned at him and looked like a bull ready to attack. "What's wrong?" he asked walking over and putting his hands on her shoulders.

She turned back around and pointed. "That." She said simply. She sighed and brushed past Rocky and Kim before storming out into the livingroom.

"How did the bed break?" Rocky asked looking at Kim curiously.

Kim felt a blush creep into her cheeks. "Sex. With Josh." She watched as Rocky tried hard not to laugh at the situation, knowing that he didn't want to be on Carri's shit list as well. Kim let out a long sigh. "Do you think she'll hate me forever?"

"Of course not." Rocky replied grinning at her. "Just for the next few days is all."

Suddenly they heard Carri yelling again. They ran out into the living room and found her face to face with her brother.

"I can't believe you broke my bed. The one grandma left to me. You knew it was fragile." Carri said glaring at him. She was so angry to find the bed in shambles that she could just about kill her brother for that.

He let out a laugh. He was amused by her anger. Fortunately he knew his sister well enough to know he could diffuse the situation. That and there wasn't much he could do to make her hate him for long. "I didn't think you liked the bed that much in the first place."

"First I loved that bed, it had sentimental value." She said harshly crossing her arms. "Second, you had sex with Kim in that bed. Kim's like my sister. You're my brother. That's just wrong." She said with a hint of disgust in her voice. The way she was acting an outsider would think she really was talking about incest.

Josh couldn't help but laugh at her again. "She may be like your sister but she's not your sister and I happen to really like her." He pointed out after he composed himself.

Carri picked up on the sincerity in her brother's voice. "Well fine." She said as her body let out a little tension. "But what about the bed?"

"I'll fix it today I promise." Josh assured her. If he could get it in one piece again, eventually she'd forget about the whole incident or at least laugh it off.

"I can help." Rocky pipped up as he put a hand on her back. He smiled at her as she turned to look at him.

"Fine." She said letting her arms flop down to her side. "Whatever." She added as she walked off in the direction of her bedroom.

"So was that a complete disaster or only a partial one?" Kim questioned as they heard the door to the bedroom slam shut.

"Partial." Josh assured her as he walked over toward her and put his hands on her arms. "Don't worry by the end of the day the bed will be fixed and you'll be best friends again." He continued. When he finished he planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I suppose you're right." Kim replied giving him a smile.

Rocky grinned at them. He couldn't help but find the entire situation amusing. Kim slept with Josh and broke the bed, and on top of it all it seems as though they really do like each other. Poor Carri was probably about to go mad. "Since I haven't done anything wrong this morning, I'll go to talk to her." He volunteered, walking off in the direction of the bedroom.

Kim sighed before smiling up at Josh. "So is there breakfast?"

"But of course." He replied. He went to get the bagel's and coffee he had brought in with him so that they could enjoy breakfast before Josh had to survey the damage and get started on fixing the bed.

* * *

Late that afternoon Kim convinced Carri to let her take her out to lunch while the guys were working on getting the bed fixed. Carri was still feeling a bit ticked, but she wasn't going to stay mad at Kim forever so she agreed to go.

They were sitting there sipping their sodas in silence for a few minutes before Kim spoke. "I'm sorry about all that." She apologized.

Carri shrugged. "It's ok. It's just a bed. The whole thing is kind of weird for me that's all." Weird was a bit of an understatement. Her best friend dating her brother really bothered her and the fact that they had sex... well that was rather disturbing.

"I really like him you know." Kim said as she let out a happy sigh and smiled. "It's been a long time since someone made me feel like that. Like I was at the center of their universe. Like we really bonded and belonged together." The last year with Tommy was not like that. She was well aware that at that time his masters was above her and she accepted that. For Josh to make her feel the way he did last night was just wonderful.

It didn't take a genius to look at Kim and realize that she was head over heels for someone. She couldn't hide the dreamy expression on her face, or the look in her eyes that suggested he was all she could think about. Which is why Carri declined to tell her how she really felt. She was the one encouraging Kim to find someone, and now that she did she couldn't very well rip them apart. Not now anyway. "I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I'm glad you and Josh had such a good time last night. You both needed it." She said giving Kim another one of those I'm apologizing because I care about you, not because I'm sorry apologies.

"Thank you." Kim replied. She felt relieved that Carri seemed alright with it all and wasn't about to jump across the table and strangle her. "You were right. I did need to move on. I was lonely and Josh was exactly what I needed. He came at the right time."

Carri nodded in agreement. She did have to admit Kim was glowing like she did when she and Tommy started dating again in college. She hadn't seen her friend like that in a long time and it was a nice change. "It is good that he could fill a void and help you move on."

"It's just, I'm so excited." Kim said about to burst at the seams. "I can't wait to see where this goes."

"I'm excited for you. This should be amazing." Carri said flashing her a smile as their food arrived. Carri took a bite out of her sandwich as she started thinking about the whole situation. It was going to be amazing for Kim throughout the next week. Her brother was a nice guy and would be good for getting her back on her feet. As for the long term, well Carri wasn't going to worry too much about it. She would pretend to be happy for now, but Josh was flying back to New York in a week. And if anyone knew Josh it was Carri. One week with a woman would not be a huge commitment for him. She took a sip of a drink, satisfied that their relationship would only be a temporary fling. After all, how long could it last?


	7. Consequences

**Author's Notes:** Few quick things. First since I am using the Turbo powers in a completely different era from when they were originally used, I am playing with them some so they'll get upgrades/additions you never saw in the series. Second, quick note for those of you who have never read Ranger Scrolls. That story started out with Carri replacing Tanya early in the Zeo series. The assumption was that any adventure the show had my Zeo team still had unless otherwise mentioned. So that's where the reference to the Zeo episode came from.  
Hope you all enjoy the new chapter. As always reviews are appreciated.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Consequences"

Carri and Rocky sat out on the back porch of her Angel Grove home. They had just finished dinner and the last rays of sunshine were starting to give away to the night. After a few moments they got up from their chairs at the table and brought their beers to the bench where they sat curled up next to each other.

At the moment Carri was more concerned with picking the label off of the beer bottle than actually drinking it. She had a lot of things running through her head and she didn't even know what to tackle first. Callisto and Rhianna's attacks were becoming more difficult, work was extremely busy as of late, then of course there was the whole Kim and Josh issue.

Rocky kissed her on her shoulder and brought her out of her thoughts. She turned toward him and he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She was startled and when he pulled back she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked trying to rack his brain to figure out why she wouldn't want his affections.

She flashed him a warm smile. "No of course not. It's just, I don't know..."

"Cheer up." Rocky replied as he leaned in and gave her another kiss.

Carri got behind the kiss before suddenly pulling back. "It's just Josh has been here for three weeks now. That's two weeks longer that he should've been. Just for Kim. I know he's going home soon but that's not the point."

"I know you find it more than a little weird but you should be happy for them." Rocky pointed out. He had heard endless complaints from her about how she couldn't believe they were still together, and that Josh was just ignoring his responsibilities back home for her.

"I guess." She said as Rocky pressed his lips against hers yet again. They stopped briefly and she went on. "Then Callisto and Rhianna have been raising hell lately and Kim doesn't seem to give a damn at the moment leaving that on my shoulders."

"We are a five person team remember? You're not the only one who can pick up Kim's slack." Rocky pointed out. She wasn't the only one who had noticed that Kim was sliding on her ranger duties as of late. Noone was willing to point it out to her though, they were waiting for her to collect herself and bring herself back together.

"Yeah but this is still mine and Kim's fight and we know what to do and," she stopped as she noticed the hurt expression on Rocky's face, "I'm sorry I know you guys have made it your fight too." As a red Tommy was really getting involved in things besides the fights and as former reds Jason and Rocky helped out when they needed to as well. "It's just Kim and I have been at the front of this fight trying to figure out how to destroy them. Kim was the red on the first mission with them, and now she's backed off and I'm in the front as the one with the previous contact. Which I don't mind. But I've also got work breathing down my neck. There's so much to get done, so much that we need to address with the first few shows, not to mention everything else that's starting to roll into my office. Things are getting so hectic sometimes I just want to pull all my hair out." She finished letting out an agitated yell.

Rocky put his beer down then took the bottle out of her hands and sat it down as well before wrapping his arms around her and putting his chin on her shoulder, lightly kissing her neck. "Things will settle down I promise. Everything's going to be fine." Of course Kim breaking up with Josh would get rid of most of Carri's frustrations, and he didn't see that happening any time soon.

"I'm glad one of us is confident." She said looking up and sighing heavily. Everything was so chaotic. It was much simpler being a ranger in high school. Zordon did all the worrying and all the rangers had to do was run out and kick ass between classes and her biggest concerns were when the next sale at the mall was or when Brad Pitt's newest movie came out.

"I know how to make you feel better." Rocky said as he kissed her neck again.

"You gonna fly me to the moon so I can kick the crap out of someone?" she asked, a smile forming at the corner of her lips.

"I said make you feel better, not get you killed." He chuckled as he reached up and grazed her chin with his fingers, turning her head toward him.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked as her eyes made contact with his.

Rocky said nothing, only pulled her into him and wrapped his arms tightly around her kissing her passionately on the lips. Carri felt herself melt in his arms and she gave into him, allowing the worries of the night to slowly disappear.

* * *

Not every ranger was lucky enough to be wrapped up in someone else's arms that night. The remaining two male rangers had gone out for drinks and hopefully dates, but had come up empty and were now cutting through the park near the lake enjoying some time to just hang out.

"I should just go back to not dating." Tommy mused thinking about his uneventful night at the bar. He and Danielle had parted ways the previous week, and Jason had insisted that he go out that night, if anything to keep him interested and not give up.

Jason rolled his eyes although Tommy couldn't see it in the dark of the night. "Whether or not you'll admit it to yourself, you've been miserable the last few years alone."

"I wasn't alone." Tommy defended himself. "I've always had Hayley."

"Really now? So you two have been getting it on all these years?" Jason teased.

Tommy groaned at his friend's inference. "She's been there to be my friend and I didn't need anyone else." Tommy and Jason had both changed a lot over the years. Tommy had spent most of his time since college deeply involved with work and the rangers. It was his life, it was what made him the no nonsense ranger he was today. He enjoyed female companionship, but he had so much going on he didn't feel the need to be out there looking. Unlike Jason, who only spent enough time doing his online investments to pay for the basics. And although Jason was keeping up with ranger activity, he was just now starting to get seriously involved again. Which left him a lot of spare time in his life for dating.

"You say that now bro but when the right girl comes along you're going to jump at the chance." Jason pointed out. Jason always thought Kim was the right girl and he had a feeling that Tommy was more conflicted on that end than he was letting on.

"When and if it happens, it happens. You're more worried about it than I am." Tommy said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's not easy with the lives we lead. Maybe we should just quit dating." Jason said as a smile came across his face. Tommy was almost right about the not dating part. His reasons weren't but sometimes Jason found himself wondering if that was the right idea. Of course he doesn't think that he could follow through with that. Unlike Tommy he wants the right woman in his life.

Tommy just shook his head. "I'd like to see you try." With the frequency of dates Jason was going on, he couldn't imagine him giving it up.

Jason laughed and looked out over the water, noticing a silhouette of a young couple. "Well I suppose we can't all be like them." He said chuckling as he gestured to them.

Tommy smiled as he glanced over to the couple in question. It was nice to be young and in love. They paused and watched for a moment, both finding themselves wishing that they had a girl they could be with like that.

The man kissed the woman passionately, they could hear her moan from where they stood. She lifted her leg and pressed her knee firmly against his hip before putting her hands on his chest then letting them slide down to his waist, gripping him tightly. He rubbed his hands all over her back, and as he kissed her he squeezed her in areas that made her squeal.

"Maybe we should just leave them to this." Jason said as neither man took their eyes off the couple.

The woman's head fell back and the man kissed her neck before burying his head in her chest. Wind blew and the leaves shifted, causing moonlight to cast on the woman's face briefly. All it took was that brief second for the duo to realize who the woman was they were staring at.

Tommy clinched his fists and his eyes glowed with rage. "He had better take his damn hands off of Kim." He growled. The man they couldn't see, but it didn't matter as Tommy was about to rip him apart limb by limb.

"Tommy Kim's not your girlfriend anymore." Jason reminded him. He was surprised as well, Kim hadn't bothered to tell him she was dating anyone, let alone this enthralled by someone. He wished someone had told him, it certainly made some of her behavior over the last few weeks make sense.

"I'm not going to stand here and watch while he treats her like some little whore." Tommy said as his knuckles grew white from him clinching his fists so hard.

"She's moved on and obviously it's with him. She seems happy and we should get out of here." Jason pointed out. He had to admit, he didn't like watching someone feel up on the girl he considered his little sister any more than Tommy liked watching it happen. But this wasn't the time or place and he hated to see the fury Kim would unleash if they interrupted.

Mind made up, Tommy glared at them as they continued to grope each other. "I don't give a damn." He said as he started to walk over there.

Fortunately Jason had an idea where that was going and he stepped in Tommy's way. "Bro I'm not going to let you do this."

"I'm not giving you a choice." Tommy said as he tried to push past him to continue on his warpath.

Jason shoved Tommy back. "I swear I'll teleport us both out of here in the middle of the park to keep you from doing this." He was hoping that if Tommy realized that he was about to seriously break ranger code just to keep him out of this fight, he'd back down. And Jason wasn't kidding, the only other two people around were Kim and her date and they didn't seem to be paying them too much attention anyway.

Tommy turned toward Jason, deadly look in still in his eye. It frightened Jason a bit, it reminded him of the look he had when he was evil. If Tommy were to get his hands on that man he probably would crush him and Kim would never forgive Tommy for that. For that reason among others, Jason stood firmly planted in front of him despite the murderous look in his eye.

"Come on Tommy let's get out of here." Jason said calmly staring him down.

Tommy took a few deep breaths as he glanced over at Kim before turning his attention back to Jason. He wasn't happy in the least, but he allowed Jason to grab him by the arm and pull him away from the scene. It was lucky for Kim's date that Jason was there because otherwise he wouldn't have hesitated.

Jason continued to drag him off. As the distance grew between them, Tommy slowly started to calm down. Perhaps Jason was right, perhaps it wasn't a good idea. Then again, the thought of Kim, his Kim, being taken advantage of by another man like that infuriated him all over again.

It didn't take long before Jason had gotten them out of the park. He stood there waiting to flag down a taxi. After striking out at the bar and seeing Kim, it was about time to call this Friday night done. Jason hailed a cab and opened the door, shoving Tommy in before he could protest. Within seconds they were speeding off to Tommy's house so he could hopefully get a good nights sleep and put everything behind him.

* * *

Forces on the moon were stirring early the next morning. Callisto was overseeing the production of her new and improved Cirranadrones, as Cratus and Goldar had recently finished scouring the galaxy to find her what she needed. Cratus had also come across a magical spell for Rhianna's staff, something that would allow her to create monsters that had magical powers of their own.

Callisto was quite pleased with Cratus's findings. He had proven himself worthy on more than one occasion. Unlike that overgrown ape that Rhianna kept around. If it wasn't for his loyalty to her parents, she probably would have disposed of him long ago. At times Callisto still wanted to watch him go up in flames despite Rhianna's assurances that he was useful.

The goddess heard the clanking of Rhianna's heels as she entered the room but didn't bother to turn to acknowledge her. "You wanted to see me?" Rhianna questioned as she stepped in beside her.

"I altered your staff last night." Callisto said simply.

"Which means?" Rhianna questioned. She didn't know if that was a good thing or bad thing, she never knew where Callisto was concerned. They both did have the same goals in mind, but they were both evil. And if there was one thing evil beings were known for, it was their deception.

"The monsters you've been making have been good, but not good enough. Now you have the ability to create monsters with magical powers of their own." Callisto informed her. Not only would these monsters have weapons and the ability to fight, but they would have magic on their side. That would give an edge over the rangers. What good it would do was yet to be seen.

Rhianna nodded. She agreed, she had yet to make a monster she was satisfied with. "Perhaps I should test it out."

"Yes." Callisto agreed. "Let's finish a batch of these new Cirranadrones then we'll see how the rangers like our upgrades."

"Will it take long?" Rhianna asked. If she could really make monsters with magical abilities, she was anxious to try it out.

"Not at all." The goddess replied. She crossed her arms and stared as her minions continued working around her. Soon they would see how the rangers could handle their new army.

* * *

It was a beautiful Saturday morning as Carri outside of a small diner enjoying breakfast with Jason. She had enjoyed a romantic evening with Rocky the previous night and he had gotten up early to go do some work at each of his schools. Now she was planning on spending her Saturday catching up with friends.

Jason looked over at Carri as she started on her second cup of coffee. They had mostly been making small talk as they were both working on waking up. But he couldn't wait any longer before talking about his Friday night. "Have you noticed how Kim's been acting strange lately?" Jason questioned. He figured asking about Kim was a good place to start.

"Yeah she's not been herself." Carri replied. If Jason only knew the half of it. She didn't know why Kim didn't want to tell him. She assumed it was because even though she knew about blonde big boobs, she didn't want Tommy to know about Josh or that she was even dating. She seriously doubted Jason would tell, but who knew how many beers it would take to get the secret out.

"I think I know why." Jason said grinning.

Carri froze. "Why?" she asked figuring she'd play along.

"Last night Tommy and I caught her making out with some guy in the park. I thought he was going to strip her right there in public." Jason said. As he paused Carri shuddered. He couldn't blame her, he didn't like thinking of Kim like that any more than she did. "Seriously I never really thought Tommy was going to kill someone until that moment."

That perked Carri's interest. She didn't even think Tommy cared, but apparently he did. "So did you get a look at the guy?" she asked hoping that they didn't realize it was Josh. If Tommy figured out who he was, she was afraid he'd hunt him down and pummel first, ask questions later.

Jason shook his head no. "We couldn't see him. We didn't even know it was Kim for the longest time."

Carri nodded as she started tapping her foot while she thought. She never kept secrets from Jason. And now that the boys both knew she was dating, what was the harm in Jason knowing who. Besides it would give her someone else to confide in so she didn't drive poor Rocky crazy. "If I tell you something you have to swear not to tell anybody." She said glaring at him.

"I can keep my mouth shut." Jason replied. He couldn't help but wonder what she knew that he didn't.

"I'm serious Jase. I will hunt you down and kill you if Tommy finds out." She warned. The last thing she needed was an angry Tommy out to kill her brother.

Despite the tone in her voice and the look in her eye, Jason cracked a smile. Years of friendship had taught him that she was the one person whose bad side you didn't want to be on. He hadn't been before and he wasn't planning on starting now. "I promise I'll keep your secret just like I've kept every other secret you've told me." He said hoping she'd hurry up and spit it out.

"She's been dating Josh the last three weeks." Carri quickly blurted out.

"Josh? Like your brother Josh?" Jason asked suddenly feeling hurt that neither had confided in him earlier. It wasn't like them to keep secrets like that from him.

"The one and only." She said giving him a small smile.

"And you couldn't tell me this before?" he questioned.

She shrugged. "It was Kim's secret. I just promised to keep it for her. I don't know why she didn't want to tell you. She's been acting kind of weird since they started dating."

"And you're ok with this?" Jason asked. It had to be strange for her to see her brother dating the girl she considers to be her sister.

"Are you kidding? I've been trying to smile for Kim's sake but they've been at it for three weeks. That's two whole weeks longer than I gave them. And she's with him and she's not thinking right and my god Jase she broke my bed on the first date." Carri said anger rising again as she thought about it. That memory gave her the creeps as much as the thought of them almost screwing in the park.

"Should I even ask how they broke the bed?" Jason questioned. He had a lot of ideas running through his head about how it could happen.

Her lips pressed together and she glared at him. "Sex." She said. She saw how he was trying hard not to laugh so she continued. "I'm not kidding. They were screwing and they broke my freakin bed. It took Josh and Rocky five hours to figure out how to get it back together again."

"Come on you have to admit it is kind of funny." Jason said as he started processing the interesting events that were going on in Kim's love life. He stored a few mental notes that he could maybe pull out later to put into his new book.

Carri shot him a look that said this was anything but funny. "Maybe to you it is. But they're screwing each other, which I don't like. Not to mention she's ignoring the important things in life like Callisto and Rhianna. She's been so giddy lately she could care less about anything else."

"It's probably just the new relationship phase. You should've seen her when Tommy first came into the picture." Jason said. She was just as giddy and care free then. Of course that was more than a decade ago when her role as a ranger was much different and much less involved than it is now. He agreed, she needed to snap back with it. But they'd have to wait and see how things went and if it really became an issue, he wouldn't hesitate to tell her. "Give her some time and she'll be back with it."

"I hope you're right." Carri said just as her communicator went off. She glanced down at it briefly before glancing up at Jason. "Let's go see what they're up too this time."

"Nothing we can't handle I'm sure." Jason replied. Or at least he hoped so. He snuck in one last bite of his breakfast before he and Carri each threw some cash on the table and headed to find a secure place to answer their page and morph.

* * *

Kim sat in Josh's arms on the beach, watching as the waves crashed onto the shoreline. It was a beautiful morning and she was thrilled to be there with the man she was falling in love with. Much like every time they went out, the previous night's date had been wonderful. Except with this date she got a diamond necklace as his way of saying I'm sorry I have to leave you but I love you.

She wished he could stay longer, but he had already been there too long. He had pushed back some things for his show so he could stay there with Kim an extra two weeks, but work couldn't be pushed back any longer. Kim understood. She didn't like it, but she definitely understood.

His flight was leaving that afternoon and Kim was planning on spending the entire morning with him. Carri had said her goodbyes the previous afternoon just so they could have the time together. Kim was surprised, Carri seemed like she was handling the whole thing pretty well. Of course she could tell she wasn't thrilled about it, but she figured it had to be weird for her to hear her talk about her brother like that.

Josh pulled her in a little closer and gave her a squeeze as she looked up at him and smiled. "I'm really going to miss you." She said.

"Me too." He told her as he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He couldn't believe how fast the three weeks had flown by. He was glad that he had Kim to spend them with. Of course he did feel slightly bad about not spending more time with his sister, but she didn't kill him for it so he figured he was alright for now.

"Maybe we should go get lunch and bring it back here." She suggested. They had talked about having an early lunch before his flight. They were going to go out and eat but Kim found the beach so peaceful that she hated to leave it.

"That sounds like fun." Josh agreed. It was nice and peaceful sitting by the ocean. He always loved going to the beach, it was probably the thing he missed most about California all those years. The few trips he made back to California he had made it a priority to hit the beach at least once.

What he'd really like to do would be to whisk her away to the beaches of Hawaii for lunch. He could afford to do it, money wasn't the issue. What kept him from doing it was the fact that his father would kill him for pushing things back yet another week so he could continue spending time with Kim. He initially told his father that he was helping his sister out with stuff which is why he wanted to stay later. Unfortunately for him he had taken Kim up to LA where they visited with some of his Hollywood friends. He had Kim were sitting cozily at a table in a club with his friends when someone snapped a picture of the group. Days later it surfaced on the internet and his father's people found it.

He didn't even get a chance to make up anything as Carri was more than generous with the details of why he was staying in Angel Grove when she had spoken to their father. Now he was pretty much told that if he liked working he had better stop screwing around with his sisters friends and get home. Not that he thought his dad would actually fire him, he was doing too well with the show. But he could make his life hellish which was something Josh wanted to avoid at all costs. His father didn't demand much out of him as an employee, only that he stayed out of the tabloids and did his job. Although that picture wasn't in the tabloids it still showed him partying and the fact that he was partying and not home doing his job didn't sit well with his father.

Josh was hoping that he'd have some down time in the near future and could come back and visit with Kim again. Although he knew that for the next week he was going to be busy wrapping up some details about the show's season finale, and after that his father had a project that he wanted him to help with before their new season started up. There was definitely enough work piled up and waiting for him to keep him in New York for a while.

Josh leaned in closer to Kim and got a whiff of her perfume. Something about the sent she wore drove him wild. He leaned in and started kissing her neck. Kim giggled and turned toward him. "I'm going to miss your kisses." She said as she leaned in and gave him one of her own.

"I'm going to miss giving them to you." He told her as he grinned at her. He put his arms around her waist and brought her into him, gently rolling back and laying her down on the sand. She grazed her fingertips on his neck and he leaned in and kissed her passionately.

Kim felt herself getting lost in Josh's arms again. Just as she thought the moment couldn't get more perfect, her communicator went off. Josh pulled back and she groaned.

"Don't answer it." He said as he linked his fingers in hers and lightly pushed her hand to the ground so she couldn't reach it. "It's not like the world's going to end if you stay here with me."

"You know as well as I do that it very well might." Kim replied. She hated leaving him as much as he hated her leaving, especially since this was their last time together.

"Carri will handle it." He said as he leaned down toward her and kissed her yet again.

Kim let out a soft moan as his lips grazed hers before continuing down her neck and to her chest. Suddenly Kim's communicator chirped again. She sighed forcefully before kissing Josh on the head then playfully pushing him to the sand and sitting up. "Go ahead."

"There's a monster and some Cirranadrones. You need to join the others." Billy's voice came through loud and clear.

"On my way." Kim said as they ended the communication. "I'm sorry I've got to go help them."

"I know." Josh said. He really did understand, not only was the world in danger by her not being there but so was his sisters life and the lives of her friends.

"Why don't you go get lunch and I'll meet you back here as soon as I can." Kim suggested. She was hoping that the fight would be quick and painless.

"I can handle that." Josh said. He leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss before standing up.

Kim took a deep breath then stood up as well. She looked around to make sure they were still the only ones on the beach before she morphed and teleported to the scene.

* * *

"It's about time you showed up." Tommy said glaring at the pink ranger as she materialized before him.

"Sorry I was busy." Kim apologized. "So what do we have?"

"Hard as shit Cirranadrones and a monster with the ability to do God only knows what." Carri said slightly irritated by the fact that Kim had let her brother distract her for so long. The Cirranadrones had been seriously upgraded and they had a hybrid cactus monster shooting thorns at them. Fortunately they had so far managed to avoid the thorns as nobody wanted to find out what they could do to you.

"Look out!" Jason yelled as the cactus monster pushed to the front and attacked by throwing more thorns.

Carri retaliated by calling for her weapons, firing a shot then immediately rolling out of the way.

Kim watched as the monster turned off in her direction and Tommy called on his weapons and ran to join her. Jason and Rocky were busy fighting the Cirranadrones and not doing so well. She looked around the battlefield unsure of where she wanted to jump in. For a brief moment she forgot where she was as all she could think about was the beach. She couldn't wait to get back there and see Josh. She was sad that he was leaving and she had to take some of her time with him to fight.

Jason glanced at her, irritated by the fact that she was standing there like a kid who had better things to do than save the world. Perhaps she thought she did have better things to do, but by default as a red and a member of the Turbo team rangering was her top priority. "We could use a little help!" he yelled snapping her attention back.

Tommy and Carri briefly glanced over at the fight against the Cirranadrones to see if there was anything they could do. They were afraid that their three friends were covered in the warriors and were struggling. What they saw was the two rangers struggling and the pink ranger pulling out her weapon and taking them on one at a time like she hadn't a care in the world.

Neither had time to ponder Kim's mental status at the moment. They could only hope that she would kick herself into battle mode. They feared turning away from the monster and getting hit with the thorns or allowing one of their teammates to be hit.

The battle raged on with four rangers fighting fiercely and one ranger busy wishing she was on the beach wrapped up in her boyfriend's arms. That dynamic stayed the same until Cratus and Goldar teleported down, attacking Carri and Tommy from behind and forcing them to take their attention off of the cactus monster, leaving him free to roam.

The cactus decided that since the yellow and red rangers were well aware of his presence, he would find another ranger to poison with his magical thorns. He looked around the battlefield and saw the pink ranger off in a corner fighting one or two Cirranadrones. The green ranger was covered in Cirranadrones. The blue ranger was as well, but that quickly changed as several of them threw him back. He would make an easy target. He fired a thorn at him and hit him in the chest. He watched as he powered down and laid there.

Seconds later the cactus monster was attacked from behind. Carri rolled off the creature and went to protect Rocky. She was pissed that Cratus and Goldar distracted them, she was pissed that Rocky got hurt, and she was pissed that Kim was on another planet. They were down one and a half rangers and Callisto and Rhianna were seriously bringing it to them. There was only one way to fix it. "Guys we need to get to the Command Chamber." She called out to her teammates.

"Rangers you can't retreat now." Goldar taunted. He was actually quite pleased that they were forcing them to back off.

"She's right." Tommy said as he appeared beside Carri. "We're getting nowhere."

Reluctantly Jason agreed, and the rangers teleported back to the Command Chamber to see if they could come up with some sort of plan that works.

* * *

Rocky was immediately teleported to the medical room and Billy started to get to work on what the cactus monster had hit him with. The other rangers stood in the main room and powered down so they could try to figure out a plan of attack.

Immediately Carri crossed her arms and glared at Kim, who seemed to be still glowing from the beach and not at all concerned about getting their asses kicked. Jason stood by Carri looking over at Kim as well. Both were thinking of what to say, but neither had to worry about it as Tommy beat them to it.

"What the hell was going on with you out there?" Tommy yelled as he stood in front of her, gaining her full attention.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked innocently, not at all happy with Tommy's attitude. "There was a battle and I was fighting."

"Like hell you were." He snapped. "You were acting like a school girl with a crush out there, not like a red."

Kim crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. "Please Tommy you're so full of it."

"Dammit Kim you haven't been acting like a red for weeks. You've been walking around here on cloud nine forgetting that the world's in danger. You're ignoring your duties, you're slacking in fights - hell you could've gotten someone killed just now. I've been running everything lately and you haven't been a part of it." Tommy argued. He was tired of the way things had been going lately, and now that he knew why he was even more upset. Before her new boyfriend she wanted to be the one leading the charge on the fights. She wanted to be on top, if not ahead of everything that was going on with the battle. Now he understood why Kim had been too busy to help out when Tommy and Carri were in the Command Center doing small tasks. It was sad when they were communicating with teams across the galaxy looking for tidbits of help on the fight, and other reds were wondering how the red Planetary Ranger could be too busy to be there.

"Now you know how I felt." Jason muttered. Both rangers shot him a look. "Let's not forget that when you two first got together you both were kind of slacking and I picked it up for you."

"That has nothing to do with this." Tommy said irritated that he had jumped into the middle of his and Kim's argument.

"Sorry Tommy I haven't been living up to your standards. I've been busy with work." Kim growled through clenched teeth.

"Bullshit." He growled. "You've been busy running around with another man. Did the love we had for each other mean nothing to you?"

Kim snorted. "You say that like I've been cheating on you. You're the one who told me to move on." She reminded him, ignoring the fact that he knew she was seeing someone.

"Well I didn't expect you to actually do it." He said as he glared at her.

"Please! You moved on first. It wasn't long after your moving on speech that I saw you with blonde big boobs." Kim pointed out.

"Her name was Danielle." He said harshly, angry that Kim didn't bother to use her name. "And that's different."

"Different!" Kim exploded. "Please Tommy explain how you're dating is different than my dating."

"Because you weren't supposed move on." He yelled realizing how bad it was to say after it was too late.

"I see. The great Tommy Oliver can do whatever he wants while little old Kim is supposed to sit at home and cry over him all day." She said staring at him with cold, hard eyes.

"I meant"

"Guys!" Carri yelled cutting Tommy off. She was fed up with hearing them argue and she wanted to stop them before Tommy shoved his foot farther in his mouth and Kim ended up killing him. Besides they had much more important things to worry about. "There's still tough Cirranadrones, two ugly lackeys and a monster shooting thorns out there and they're a bit more important than your social lives. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go check on my boyfriend."

With that Carri turned and headed toward the infirmary. Jason turned and followed her. He couldn't help but snicker, he kind of found the Kim and Tommy situation amusing. Although it was inappropriate given the circumstances, he'd definitely have to store it away for later. The duo walked into the infirmary and a quick glance back told them that the former couple had shut up and were now following.

Carri walked over toward Billy. "How is he?"

"The monster infected him with some kind of magical poison." Billy replied as she walked over and stood beside him.

Carri sighed when she looked down and shifting toward a shade of green. "Great so I'm going to have a plant boyfriend again?" she asked recalling his horticulture experiment gone bad.

"Not quite like that." Billy said, the incident bringing a smile to his face. Although it had been serious, Rocky as a plant was rather amusing. Carri had only been a ranger a few months at the time and she found the whole thing hysterical, especially when he told Kat she had nice leaves. As a new ranger she didn't quite comprehend how serious it could've been which was why her amusement had lightened up an otherwise somber mood. "Whatever this poison is it's attacking his bloodstream and turning his skin green. At this point I can't be sure if it's turning him into a plant or just trying to kill him. What I can be sure of is that I'm running it through every database I have. It doesn't seem too complex so I should be able to find a solution."

"And for the monster?" Carri asked glancing down at Rocky briefly before looking back up at Billy.

"That I may have a solution too." Billy said with pride. He checked Rocky's stats and took a glance at the computer before leading the other rangers back out into the main room. He glanced around the entire team first before pausing and making eye contact with Tommy. "Do you remember the metallic armor?"

Tommy nodded just as Jason spoke. "What's the metallic armor?"

"Zordon created it just after Kim left. It was temporary armor on our suits that we could call on." Tommy filled in the blanks for his friend

"I've been working on recreating the metallic armor and using your power coins to power it. As long as you have your coins on you, you can call for the armor and it will protect you as Turbo rangers." Billy informed them. He had always thought about recreating the metallic armor when they were Ninja Zeo rangers, but with them using the power coins in their morphing he would never have been able to get the armor to hold long, leaving them with the same problems they initially had.

"What good is temporary armor going to do us?" Carri questioned. She wasn't sure what Tommy meant by temporary, but five minutes with the armor against that army wasn't going to be enough.

"First it's not temporary. Since your coins aren't powering your morph, you should be able to sustain the armor during the course of battle. Second the armor will ease the fight against the Cirranadrones. It will also protect you against the cactus monsters thorns, as they aren't powerful enough to penetrate the armor." Billy finished his explanation.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Carri asked glancing over at her team. "We left some bad guys down there and we've got some ass to kick."

"I couldn't have put it better myself." Tommy agreed smiling over at the yellow ranger. "Shift into turbo!"

* * *

Seconds later the four members of the Turbo team found themselves standing in front of Callisto and Rhianna's forces.

"Come for another beating?" Cratus asked, excited by the thought of finally finishing off the rest of the rangers.

"We're not the ones getting the beating." Tommy promised. He looked over at the team to see if they were ready before he yelled, "Metallic armor, power up!"

The power coins took over and coated their Turbo uniforms in the metallic armor. Cratus looked surprised and Goldar found himself rather annoyed. He'd seen was the metallic armor could do and he didn't care for it.

Carri was quick to grab her weapons and jump at the cactus monster. The cactus shot a thorn at her, which hit her suit and caused her to fall mid air, but didn't do any damage. She stood up, more than satisfied with the armor. "A girl could get used to this." She said as she attacked the surprise monster with her weapons.

Kim went to fight the Cirranadrones while Tommy and Jason went to face off against Goldar and Cratus. This time around the Cirranadrones were no more difficult that usual. Kim was able to face off against them by herself with no trouble, and due to her annoyances with Tommy's earlier comments she was fighting them fiercely.

Cratus and Goldar found themselves behind in the battle quickly. Although they were both excellent fighters, the metallic armor the rangers were using was enough to drive them insane. It didn't take long before they were tired of getting beat back and even more tired of not being able to beat them back like they were used to. The duo issued some parting words before disappearing back to their palace on the moon.

As Cratus took off, Jason looked back to see how Kim was doing. She had a few remaining Cirranadrones that needed taking care of so he went to help her finish them off. The first time he attacked the warriors he realized how much the metallic armor was helping in the fight. They were much easier this time than they had been less than an hour ago. He was glad to see that Kim had taken care of most of them by herself. If she could start getting back to ranger duties with her having a boyfriend, Tommy might let up on her. Of course Tommy still wouldn't be happy about the whole boyfriend thing, but that was another story entirely.

With Jason's help, it didn't take long for her to vanquish the rest of the Cirranadrones. The pink and green rangers quickly rushed to the aide of their two teammates. Without having a full team they were forced to pool all of their weapons together and fire everything they had at the monster. Just like any other monster in battle he was brought down, grew and they defeated him once and for all before heading to the Command Chamber.

* * *

"The metallic armor did the trick." Carri said as they all arrived in the Command Chamber.

"This time. Their power is growing, eventually they'll be able to overpower it." Billy said. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to stay a step ahead of the bad guys, and now that they had the metallic armor he was holding his breath to see how they'd respond. He looked around the rangers and noticed that there were only three standing there. "Where's Kim?"

"Considering the monster fighting is done she probably went back to her boyfriend." Carri pointed out. She was slightly ticked that her friend didn't come back to check in, but she couldn't blame her. After the argument with Tommy earlier, she wouldn't want to come talk with him either.

"She had better get her head on straight. This fight is getting serious and we're going to need her here one hundred percent." Tommy said as he crossed his arms and frowned. She damn sure needed to start acting like the red she was. Otherwise this fight was going to get a lot harder.

"Don't worry about her bro I'm sure after today she'll come around." Jason tried to make him feel better. He wasn't sure if he believed that or not, but seeing her in the second part of the battle made him hopeful.

"What we should worry about is Rocky." Carri said, changing the subject before Tommy could start an argument about Kim. "How is he?"

"I found the antidote and gave it to him. He should be coming around shortly." Billy replied. Fortunately their first magical monster didn't pack too much of a punch. It wasn't hard at all for him to find the solution.

Carri nodded. "I'm going to go see him." She said as she walked off toward the infirmary. She headed through the doors and saw Rocky starting to stir on one of the tables. "Hey." She greeted as she stood beside him and cupped her hand around his.

"Hey." He replied groggily. "The monster hit me?"

"Yeah." She told him nodding. "You're fine now."

Rocky struggled to sit up. Carri reached over to help him before sitting beside him. He looked at her curiously. "Don't we need to go take care of the monster?"

"Done." She said flashing him a smile.

"And the Cirranadrones?" he questioned.

"Trashed." She continued to give one word answers.

"How?" he asked. The one thing he remembered about the fight was that everything was much harder than usual.

"Billy attached metallic armor to our power coins, so as long as we have them on us we can use the armor in battle." She explained.

"Metallic armor? You mean the temporary shiny suits that offer more protection?" he questioned cracking a smile.

"I mean the permanent shiny suits that offer more protection. We can call on the armor when we need it and it will protect us throughout the entire battle." She told him smiling back at him.

"That's great." He said as he put an arm around her waist. He looked up as the door opened and Jason walked through.

"How are you?" Jason asked curiously, looking over at Rocky as he entered.

"I've had better days. But I'll be fine." He told him.

"Is Tommy still here?" Carri questioned looking up at Jason as well.

The green ranger shook his head no. "He took off. Probably went home to pout." At least he hoped he did. He wanted Tommy to go home and get the earlier frustrations out of his system. Although as long as Kim was dating someone else, Jason could only assume that Tommy would still be frustrated.

"Something happen?" Rocky asked. He couldn't help but wonder why Tommy would be home pouting.

"Tommy's pissed that Kim's ignoring her red duties. He's even more pissed that she's ignoring her duties because she's with another man." Carri explained the situation. "They got into a fight earlier."

"He knows about Josh?" Rocky questioned. He couldn't imagine that was a good thing. He was afraid if he knew what Kim and Josh had been up to that he'd want to kill him.

"He knows that she's dating but he doesn't know who. Which is going to be our little secret." Carri said gesturing to the three rangers in the room.

Jason put his fingers to his lips and gestured that he was zipping them up and throwing away the key before flashing Carri a smile. "The secret is safe." He assured her.

"Good." She replied. Jason already promised earlier not to tell Tommy and she knew he wouldn't, but she wanted to remind him not to say anything. After the little argument they had in the Command Chamber she feared that Tommy would rip her brother limb from limb if he got his hands on him.

Rocky leaned over and kissed the top of Carri's head before bringing her into him and resting his chin on her head. "I'd love to stay and chat but I'm way behind on what I needed to get done today."

Carri let out a sigh. If anyone understood being behind, it was her. She wished that he could stay a bit longer since he just recovered, but she knew she'd have to let him go. "Alright. If you need anything call." She said as she sat up and gave him a kiss.

"I will." He promised her. He said goodbye to Jason and assured Carri he'd see her later before teleporting out.

"You ready to head out?" Carri asked looking over at Jason.

He nodded and the duo took off a few seconds later.

* * *

Callisto stood in the throne room of the palace Rhianna had built, her arms crossed and her eyes glowing red. "Metallic armor? You mean we can't penetrate it?"

"Not with the technology we have now." Goldar replied. As soon as he and Cratus returned they went to fill Callisto and Rhianna in. Goldar told them everything he knew about the metallic armor from the last time the rangers used it. Not surprisingly, their two female leaders were not happy.

"That monster was weak. The blue ranger survived. Could we not strengthen our monsters and break through the armor?" Rhianna wondered aloud, looking toward the older warrior for a response.

"I will have to see what I can find. I'm sure there is a way to strengthen our forces to overcome their armor." The goddess replied, sounding more confident than she felt. She had no idea what to do at the moment, but she knew that she would have to immediately start researching the matter. She could use Goldar and Cratus to reach out across the galaxy, there had to be someone out there who knew how to surpass the armor.

She was more irritated about her Cirranadrones rather than the monster. She thought they were almost perfect thanks to her upgrades. Now they were no better than they were before. She had to find a way to make them more effective against those rangers and their damned armor. For a moment she found herself missing the days she was a mortal. It was easier to have her army then. They would destroy entire towns and there wasn't a hero that could stop them. At least not one in shiny arrow proof armor. This war was turning out to be more challenging than she wanted.

Rhianna spoke, focusing Callisto's thoughts back on the situation at hand. "We will figure out how to take them out. This is only a minor setback." She said agreeing with Callisto's earlier statement. There had to be a way to overcome this situation. She came all the way to Earth to avenge her parents deaths and take over their planet, and she wasn't going to give up that easily.

Callisto nodded before she walked off. She wanted to figure out a solution and she wanted to figure it out quickly. Patience was never one of her virtues, and she hated waiting for her revenge.

* * *

Kim sat in the airport, nuzzled into Josh's arms. It wouldn't be long before his flight started boarding and he would have to leave in order to get through security and reach the gate.

"I'm sorry about lunch." Kim said. They hadn't really discussed it, but by the time she got back from the fight he had to take off and gather his things in order to make it to the airport and get checked in on time.

"It's ok." Josh assured her. "Whether I like it or not, that's more important than us." He said. And he didn't like it, not in the least. But he couldn't tell her to stop being a ranger any more than he could tell his sister. It was in their blood, and to love them was to embrace that part of them.

"Next time we see each other I'll make up for it, I promise." She told him. She felt bad that her ranger duties got in the way, but they did come first. She couldn't ignore them and leave her friends to fight the forces of evil alone and hope for the best.

"Why don't you come up and visit me." Josh suggested. "I have a few ideas on how you could make it up to me." He added as he looked down at her and grinned before pulling her in and giving her a kiss.

"I have a few deadlines at work over the next two weeks. But maybe after that?" she said looking at him to see if that was alright.

"I'm counting on it." Josh replied. He hated that he had to go back to New York and not see her forever. But it was comforting to know that she was going to come visit him and they could resume the passion that they found with each other in Angel Grove.

Kim let out a satisfied sigh as she cured up and eased back into his arms. She was going to miss having him around, miss spending time with him and talking to him and touching him. It was really hard having a boyfriend on the other side of the country as she knew firsthand from her experiences in Florida as a teenager. This was different though. This time she wasn't worried that there was a tall blonde with a pretty accent standing around waiting for her to turn her back so she could whisk her boyfriend away.

Above them the speakers cracked and a voice came through, announcing the boarding of Josh's flight home. Josh leaned over and kissed Kim's forehead. "That's me baby."

"I know." She said quietly as she put her arms around him unwilling to let go.

Josh looked over at her and cupped her face with his hands, pulling her in for a passionate kiss. He felt her arms loosen from around his waist and her hands graze across his chest. They were completely enthralled with each other for that moment. As Josh pulled back he ran his hands down her arms, stopping when he got to her hands. He clasped them together and brought them to his lips, kissing her fingers gently. "I'll call you when I get home. And I promise we'll see each other soon."

Kim nodded and smiled at him. "I'll see you soon." She said as they stood. She threw her arms around him and gave him one last kiss before letting him go through security and toward his gate. She watched from the window as he boarded his plane, then stood there waiting until it took off. Once the plane was out of sight, she turned and headed for the exits so she could make her way back home.

* * *

Jason and Carri sat on Carri's porch, enjoying the warmth of a spring day. They had spent time after the fight hanging out, with Jason trying his hardest to catch up on events he was behind on.

"So when does Josh leave?" Jason asked. The sooner the better as far as he was concerned. If Kim wasn't going on dates all the time she'd be a more focused ranger and Tommy wouldn't have the urge to kill someone.

Carri glanced down at her watch. "He should be on his way as we speak." She said. Assuming Josh made his flight he'd be well on his way back to New York by now.

"Good. Maybe we can get Kim back on track." Jason said, speaking his earlier thoughts out loud.

"Maybe we can avoid the petty arguments when there are more important things to worry about." Carri pointed out. The one thing that she was most fumed about over Kim and Tommy's earlier Command Chamber spat was that Rocky was hurt and there were monsters they couldn't defeat roaming Earth. Meanwhile the two on the team that were current reds were more concerned about the fact that the other was dating someone else and not on the fact that they were all about to get their asses kicked. She thought for a moment before she spoke again. "I think they miss each other."

"What would give you that idea?" Jason asked, although he had gotten the same vibes himself.

"Tommy wants to rip Josh's head off for touching Kim, even though he shouldn't care anymore. And no matter what Kim said she was jealous over blonde big boobs." Carri pointed out. She had asked Kim several times before, and each time Kim said that she was only upset that Tommy moved on so quickly. But Carri definitely got the sense that there was something more than that.

"Danielle." Jason corrected her for the thousandth time. She shrugged and smiled over at him and he rolled his eyes. She knew damn well what the girls name was, she just refused to use it. It didn't bother Jason though and he continued. "You're right by the way. There's more between those two than they're admitting. But considering they're both stubborn and won't listen to us, it will be interesting how it plays out." It might actually be good for Jason to watch it play out. The drama that was going on around him was more than interesting and it got his creative juices flowing.

"I think they'll," Carri started but stopped short as she heard the sliding glass door open behind her. She turned to see Kim walk out onto the porch and she flashed her a smile. "Hey."

"Hey guys." Kim greeted her two dearest friends. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Of course not. Pull up a chair." Carri said as she gestured to her porch furniture. "Did Josh get on his flight ok?" she asked.

Kim pulled up a seat and shot Carri a look. Unless something had changed Jason had no idea that she was seeing Josh and if she could she was going to keep it that way.

Carri waved off her expression. "He knows."

"We saw you last night." Jason said as he couldn't help but smile at her. "In the park."

"We? Who's we?" Kim said fearing that Tommy had seen her with Josh and that's why he'd gone off on her earlier.

"Me and Tommy." Jason said. He saw the panicked look come across Kim's face so he elaborated. "We recognized you but we didn't recognize the man who was feeling you up. Carri told me this morning that it was her brother."

"And you're not going to tell Tommy right?" she questioned glaring at him.

Jason chuckled, wondering how many times that day he was going to have to make that particular promise. "Of course I'm not going to tell him. It's not worth it. You'll kill me for giving up your boyfriend's identity and she'll kill me for getting her brother pummeled."

Kim nodded and smiled at him before glancing back and forth to both of her friends. "I'm sorry if you guys think I haven't been around much lately ranger wise."

"It's ok. As long as you get back in the game." Carri assured her. It was going to be much better for everyone if Kim was focused back on the rangers again.

"Since Josh is in New York he won't be here to distract me." Kim promised. She knew she had been slacking since Josh had come into town. She had never turned her back on a fight, but she hadn't been hanging around the Command Chamber as much as she used to.

Carri nodded even though she wasn't quite sure if that was true. He wasn't in on that morning's fight and he still distracted her. The best thing would be for them to break up so she knew Kim's mind would solely be on the fight and she didn't have to worry about thinking about her best friend sleeping with her brother. She was hoping one of the tabloids would catch him having one of his little flings and that would put a quick end to their relationship.

"We just need to refocus on what's going on. I have a feeling things are going to get worse from here." Jason pointed out. They were going to have to up their forces to take on the rangers and that could get ugly quickly.

Kim shrugged. "We've done good at handling what they've thrown at us so far. What's the worst that could happen?"

Her two friends shot her a look. Neither wanted an answer to that question. The metallic armor was going to prove to be helpful, but Callisto was extremely powerful and Rhianna was learning quickly, which meant that they could upgrade their powers to be able to get through the metallic armor. And nobody wanted to find out what could happen if they were able to do that.


	8. Missing You

**Author's Notes:** Yay I got the new chapter up a bit before expected. I am now all moved, however I have since gotten a new job which is keeping me a bit busier than my old job, which is why it may be 2-3 weeks between chapters. Anyways here's chapter eight, hope you guys enjoy. As always I love hearing from everyone.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Missing You"

Kim sat comfortably in the private plane that was carrying her from Los Angeles to New York on a beautiful May day. It had been almost three weeks since she last saw her boyfriend and she couldn't wait to land so she could rush into his arms.

She would have to admit that the three weeks they had been apart she'd been keeping herself fairly busy, and hadn't had a lot of time to miss him. She had a few major deadlines that had recently passed, not to mention all the ranger stuff that was going on that she was digging back into. When she had free time, Carri was doing a good job of keeping her mind elsewhere.

She watched as the plane touched down on the runway and started to slowly pull up toward the hanger. Kim pulled her seat up straight and stretched. This had by far been the best plane trip she had ever been on. She was the only one on the plane, which meant that she had the attendant, the huge leather chairs and the big screen television all to herself. Kim took in the interior of the plane one last time as it rolled to a complete stop.

The door swung down to reveal the stairs and the attendant came over to gesture her in the right direction. She grabbed her bags and walked out to the doorway, blinking a few times as the setting sun shined in her eyes. Once she had adjusted to the sunlight she looked down and saw Josh standing there waiting for her. Quickly she made her way down the stairs and ran straight into his arms.

Josh pulled her in and they shared a kiss as she dropped her bags to the ground. He let her go and she smiled at him. "Hey." Kim greeted

"Hey." Josh said as he picked the bags up off the ground and led them to his car. "How was your flight."

"Absolutely amazing." she said grinning at him

"I told you private planes were the only way to go." Josh replied. It had worked out that the plane was in LA a few days ago and would be returning to New York to take his mother out of town during the following week. He convinced his father to hold the plane off and let Kim hop a ride back.

Kim nodded as she spoke. "I owe your dad a huge thank you."

"You can give it to him yourself. He and mom are excited to see you. They want to have dinner tonight." Josh told her. Well his father was excited, he wasn't as sure about his mother. She didn't know Kim that well, she only knew her as Carri's friend, and at the moment Carri was a sore subject. Carri had defied her wishes for years then for her to take off with nothing more than a postcard here and there was more than enough to drive their mother crazy.

"Great. When?" Kim asked excited that his parents wanted to take them out. It had been years since she had seen them and it would be nice to go out with them as their son's girlfriend and not just their daughter's best friend.

"They're waiting for us now if you're ready." Josh told her. He wasn't sure with the time difference if Kim would be interested in dinner around what would be two thirty in the afternoon her time.

"I'm ready." she said as they approached the car. Josh popped the trunk and threw her bags in, before unlocking the doors and opening one for Kim. She climbed into the passenger seat and waited for him to enter on the drivers side.

Quickly he appeared beside of her, starting the engine and driving away. Kim watched and made small talk as they drove into the city. Parts of it she remembered from the last time they were there, and parts of it were new scenes to behold. They continued chatting until Josh pulled into the private garage of his parent's building. Leaving Kim's things in the car, the duo climbed out. Josh put her hand in his as he clicked the car door lock and led her up into the building.

After greeting the doorman they rode the elevator up an entered the Hillard's breathtaking penthouse. As the door swung open Kim looked around. She had almost forgotten the extravagance of the place Carri's parents owned. "Mom, dad." Josh called out throughout the house

"In here son." his father called back

Josh led Kim into the livingroom where his father was having a beer and watching baseball and his mother was sitting in her recliner quietly sipping on her martini. "We made it." Josh said as they walked in

His father immediately stood and went to greet his son's girlfriend. "Kim it's good to see you again." he said giving her a hug

"It's good to see you too." she said returning the gesture. "Thank you for flying me back on your plane."

"It's no problem." Jonathan Hillard replied brushing off her words of gratitude

"Hello Mrs. Hillard." Kim greeted as she turned toward her

"Hello." she replied giving her somewhat of a smile but not getting up

One look at the woman on the chair and Kim could immediately tell she wasn't the same person she was last time she saw her. Carri chalked it up to the snooty attitude she took since being in New York. She had become one of the elite, and she was queen of the highest social circles, ones that included girls Carri used to go to school with and their mothers. Carri said her mother stopped introducing herself as Becky and started introducing herself to her new acquaintances with her full name, Rebecca.

Kim asked Josh if he thought his mother had changed and he said that she had without a doubt. Of course he attributed some of that to Carri and the actions she's taken ever since moving back to California almost ten years ago. His mother put some of her frustrations into girls nights out, where they would sit at upscale bars and drink upscale drinks until the early hours in the morning. The more time she spent with these women, the more she wanted to be better than them. Eventually she achieved that goal and now she was the leader, the one they all strived to be like.

"Why don't you have a seat." Jonathan said gesturing toward the couch

Kim sat and Josh went to grab them each a beer before joining her. He opened it up and Kim took a sip out of it before smiling at Josh's parents. Rebecca gave her a cold stare for a moment before smiling sweetly at her. "So Josh tells me you work for Ashley Hammond?" she questioned. That in and of itself made her worthy for her son. Ashley was one of the top designers and one of her favorites. The one thing her daughter had done right was know Ashley, which had gotten her a few unique dresses.

"Yes I've been working there for a few months now." Kim replied smiling back at her, ignoring the stare she had gotten earlier. "It's absolutely fabulous, I couldn't have gotten a better job."

"That's wonderful." she said as she took another sip of her martini. "And you're still rooming with Carri?"

"For the moment. She doesn't mind and I'm working hard to save money to get furniture and put toward a place of my own." Kim told her

Rebecca nodded and continued. "And how is my daughter? Since I never hear from her I have to get news from her friends and her brother." she said hoping that her discontent would get back to Carri

Josh glanced over at his father, not wanting to get Kim caught in the middle of everything. His father gave him a slight shrug as he wanted to see where this conversation was going before he jumped in the middle of it.

Kim found herself surprised by Rebecca's statement. She wasn't surprised by the question, it was only natural for her to wonder about her daughter. "She's doing good. She's really busy with work and finishing stuff on the house."

"She's still with the karate instructor?" Rebecca questioned not hiding the distaste in her voice.

"Rocky? Yeah. He was up here when we visited New York years ago." Kim pointed out. She wanted to go into further detail, reminding her of how she approved years ago, but decided that it wasn't her place to point it out. Besides she was pretty sure that Carri wasn't going to hesitate to if she hadn't already.

"Yes well." she sad giving her an awkward look before finishing the rest of her drink and setting it aside. He was good to Carri and good for her when they were in college. But now that Carri was a professional in Hollywood, she needed to be looking for something better than a man who teaches karate for a living. There were so many rich, handsome men in California she didn't see why her daughter had to settle. Of course trying to tell her that was just asking for another headache.

Jonathan sat his beer on the coffee table. He had heard enough of the conversation and decided it was a fabulous time to go to dinner, especially before she had another drink. "Why don't we go get something to eat."

"Great idea dad." Josh jumped in before his mother had a chance to protest. He pulled Kim up of the couch and watched as his mother grudgingly got up. They walked the women to the door and headed out for what was hopefully going to be a nice meal.

* * *

Tommy was in his jeep, heading toward Carri's home. He had some ranger things he wanted to go over and he hoped to catch both of the girls there. Well ranger related issues was more of an excuse, he really wanted to do some prying. Since their argument in the Command Chamber three weeks ago, Kim had been more focused on the rangers. Tommy hoped that was due to the fact that she broke up with her boyfriend and was now free to give the team all of her attention.

He had to admit, seeing Kim in the park that night had made him more than a little jealous. He never thought he would react that way, after all she had broken his heart twice. But she was still Kim, his Kim, and the very thought of her in anyone else's arms broke his heart. She had been right that he was the first to move on with Danielle. And that had been a fun relationship, but it wasn't the same as it was with Kim.

With her he felt a deep connection. Something much more than a normal physical or emotional bond. It was hard to describe, but when he was with her things were amazing. He longed to have that again but now he wasn't sure if it would ever be possible.

He arrived in front of the house and pulled into the driveway. He could only assume that both cars were in the garage that Carri had finally gotten cleaned out during her hiatus between filming the first and second episodes of her show. He turned off the engine and stepped out, quickly walking up to the front door. Tommy ran the bell and a few seconds later he was greeted.

"Hey." Carri said flashing him a smile. "What's up?"

"I was hoping to talk about some ranger stuff." Tommy said giving her a smile

Carri shrugged, thinking it was odd that he came to the house instead of paging her to meet him at the Command Chamber. "Ok." she said opening the door and letting him in. She walked into the living room and gestured for him to have a seat as she sat in the recliner.

Tommy looked around briefly to see if he could spot the pink ranger. When he realized he didn't hear anyone else in the house he inquired about her whereabouts. "Where's Kim?"

"In New York with her boyfriend." Carri replied casually

"What?" Tommy snapped as he felt rage building up inside of him

"You don't rule her life, she does have a boyfriend who's not you, and she's entitled to go see him." Carri was quick to point out. Tommy had no right to explode over the fact that his ex-girlfriend was visiting her new boyfriend.

Tommy crossed his arms and gave her a murderous look. "I have a half a mind to fly up there and drag her home kicking his ass on the way."

Carri glared at him and crossed her arms as well. "There will be absolutely no ass kicking." she said harshly. If looks could kill the one Tommy gave her certainly would. "Kim needed passion in her life and since you won't give it to her she had to go looking for it. Whether or not I agree, I don't think you have any right to take that from her."

"I wouldn't give it to her because... because she broke my heart." Tommy finally admitted to someone other than Kim. "Dammit Carri I still love her. It took seeing her with another man for me to realize that."

Carri was a bit taken back by his statement. She had a feeling he still cared, but didn't know he was ready to admit that he loved her. "So why haven't you told her?"

"She's in a relationship with someone else, and I screwed us up. I've been waiting for them to break up so maybe I could have another chance." he explained

The red rangers features softened as he finished speaking. Carri let out a long sigh. Tommy missed Kim, and she didn't want Kim with Josh anymore than he did so this may be her chance. If Tommy really, truly loved her they could work on separating her and Josh so that he could try again with her. Whether or not she thought it was a good idea, she had to tell him.

"Kim's been dating my brother." she said making eye contact with Tommy. She could see the anger rising so she continued. "I don't like the thought of it any more than you do. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I think we can break them up and get you another chance."

Tommy was angry, but to know there was someone else on his side made him feel a bit better. "What do you think we can do?" he asked. He hated to be the cause of any misery Kim felt, but he knew in his heart if he could get her to give him another chance they could make it work.

"If anyone knows them well it's me." she started as she watched Tommy nod in response. "Josh is flying Kim back home next weekend and he's planning on staying a day or two. I think I can give him enough doubt about their relationship to loose interest, or at the very least send him home not caring if he gets caught in the arms of another woman."

"Even if you can get Josh to back down, what about Kim? She's not the kind of woman to give up that easily." Tommy pointed out. If she was in love with Josh, it would take more than a little distance to separate them.

"Pursue her." Carri said with a smile. "Flirt with her a little when you see her, stay close to her in battle, stuff like that. Whatever you do, don't argue with her about anything. If something needs said to Kim, let me or Jase do it. Hopefully Josh will start pulling away and Kim will start to notice that you're interested in her again. Then she'll break up with him and turn to you."

Tommy raised an eyebrow and looked at her. It all sounded so simple but he knew well enough that things never went that easily. "Do you think it will work?" he asked

"Well," she said as she shrugged, "If it doesn't work we'll just have to go to plan B."

"Which is?" he questioned. Plan A seemed like it was going to be hard enough on Kim he hated to see what plan B was.

"I'll tell you when it's time." Carri said with a sly smile across her face. In all actuality there was no plan B, but if the situation called for one Carri would sure try and come up with it. "So what did you want to talk about earlier? About the rangers?" she asked switching topics.

"Just some stuff about Callisto and Rhianna and the metallic armor." Tommy said. When he initially came over here he was just going to discuss the basics and talk about some concerns that were surfacing over the course of the last three weeks. Billy said that Callisto's minions were out searching the galaxy and that it wouldn't be long before they came up with some sort of solution to the metallic armor.

Carri leaned back in her chair and made herself comfortable. "Alright I'm listening." she said. Anything that they needed to know about the fight at hand was important.

Tommy nodded and cleared his throat and they proceeded to spend the next hour hashing out the possibilities of upcoming battles.

* * *

Callisto sat in her chair in the main room of the palace thinking about the information that Cratus had just brought to her. She had sent him throughout the galaxy to find out how they could get past the metallic armor and defeat the rangers. She had contacts on distant planets who would have the information that she needed, or at the very least would be able to point Cratus in the right direction.

He had returned with a few possible solutions, none of which she was pleased with. The easiest way to get rid of the metallic armor was to destroy the source. Callisto had no clue what the source was and even if she did because of the armor she wouldn't be able to get to it. This left her with two options.

The first option made much more sense than the second one. She could hunt down what she needed and do manual upgrades on her warriors and to Rhianna's staff which would make the Cirranadrones and monsters more powerful. There was one downfall to this option, and that was that it would take weeks to complete. Once completed it was guaranteed not to fail, but the goddess didn't think she wanted to wait that long. This fight had already dragged on much longer than she had anticipated and she was eager to end it quickly.

Which left her with option two. The benefits of the second option was that she could be ready in hours, not weeks. However the downfalls were much greater. The second option involved using magic to increase the power of her forces. The problem was magic wasn't always one hundred percent reliable, especially not the magic she would use for this task. There were a lot of risks that were involved, the magic could become unstable and the whole plan could backfire among other things.

She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair as she thought. Out of the two choices she wasn't sure which one was better. Well the manual upgrades were the better choice logistically only she didn't know if she could wait for them to be complete. She wanted the rangers dead and she wanted them dead now. The more she thought about it the more she knew what she was going to do.

Callisto rose from her chair and headed for Rhianna's chambers. Knocking briefly she let herself in and saw Rhianna sitting there. "I know what we're going to do."

"What?" Rhianna asked looking up at her. She had been waiting weeks for her to come up with a solution. She was tired of the rangers being able to defeat everything they could throw at them. Her revenge was well overdue and she couldn't wait to get it.

"With the help of a little bit of magic." Callisto replied. She gave her a smile and turned to exit the room. Rhianna stood and followed and Callisto showed her what they would need to do to get their forces ready for an attack.

* * *

Josh and Kim walked through the streets that surrounded his apartment. They had gone to dinner with his parents before he took her to his place and let her get settled in. The night was still young so they walked through the streets and he took her to one of his favorite bars. Now they were now walking home.

"I enjoyed that place." Kim commented as they exited the bar and the door swung closed behind her

"I'm glad. I go up there with my friends all the time." Josh said. It was nice to be able to share a part of himself with someone he cared about so much.

Kim giggled. "I could tell." she replied. It was pretty obvious that he hung out there a lot when the bartender knew his name, his drink, and was full of funny stories about him to share with Kim. She did enjoy talking to someone who knew something about him besides his sister.

Josh put an arm around her and pulled her into him. "I was thinking maybe tomorrow you can come check out my show." He would love to be able to share his work with her if she was interested.

"Will your dad get mad?" she asked. She didn't want to visit him at work if it was going to get him in trouble.

He shook his head no. "He probably won't ever find out. He has so many projects going on he rarely visits the set. And if he did he wouldn't mind seeing you there."

She flashed him a smile. "Ok." she said. It would be cool to see what Josh did for a living. She had visited Carri's show before, but that was completely different. With the exception of her shooting in front of a green screen, all of the filming took place in cities across the globe. Most of what she did was desk work. Josh actually worked on a serialized drama and that sounded exciting.

They continued walking down the street until Kim paused to look in the window of a jewelry store. "Sorry." she apologized for stopping the flow before she continued on.

Josh grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "What you see something you like?" he asked gesturing to the jewelry in the window. "Those earrings match your necklace." he said as he pointed to a pair that matched the jewelry he gave her before he came back to New York

"They do." she agreed. "Too bad I'm saving to move out or I might actually buy them." she said as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it before trying to walk off again

"Hang on." he said before taking her hand and guiding her to the door of the store. They walked in and headed up to the counter and Josh smiled at the older gentleman. "I want to see the earrings in the window."

The man smiled at the young couple and walked over to pick them up, bringing them back to Josh. He took them off and put them on Kim's ears before taking a step back and smiling at her. "What do you think?" he asked

Kim glanced in the mirror and noticed them sparkling back at her. They were gorgeous and they did match her necklace. She picked up the display that they were hanging on and flipped it over. For a moment she studied the price tag while she rubbed her thumb over it. She glanced at the earrings one more time before taking them off and putting them back on their display. "They're too much." she said handing them back to the man. "But thank you for letting me try them on."

"They're on me." Josh replied as he went to get his card out of his pocket

"Josh you can't" she started not wanting him to spend that kind of money on her. Even if she had it, she didn't know if she wanted to spend that kind of money on herself.

"It's a gift." he assured her cutting her off as he handed the man a card. "For the best girl in the world." The salesman rang the earrings up and Josh signed for them before taking them and putting them back in Kim's ears. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." she said blushing, forgetting for a moment the price tag on the jewelry in her ears. She put her arms around Josh and drew him into a kiss, as the man standing behind the counter chuckled at them.

Josh lightly pushed her back and grabbed her hand, leading her out of the store and back onto the street. They continued heading toward the apartment for a few moments before Kim pulled him in close.

"I need to thank you." she said with a mischievous grin on her face

"You already did." he replied smiling back

"No." she said her grin growing larger. "I mean I need to properly thank you." She ran her hand all the way down his back and grabbed his butt, pulling him into her and giving him a passionate kiss.

"In that case," he started leaning in and pulling her close so that he could return the kiss, "let's move a little faster."

As they walked down the sidewalk they practically couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Once they got to the building Josh grabbed her hand and rushed her through the main doors and into the lobby. The doorman hit the button on the elevator and he led her in, punching the button for his floor. After the doors dinged back open Josh scooped her up and led her down the hallway and with one hand he opened his apartment door. He barely got it closed behind him before carrying her down to the bedroom so that she could give him a proper thank you.

* * *

Carri sat in her office the following morning with a million things running through her head. The biggest thing she had on her mind was the Kim/Josh situation. She was glad that she and Tommy had a plan. Hopefully they could execute it properly and get the desired results. Between her best friend and her brother and the forces of evil she could hardly concentrate on what was going on. Some of the things Tommy had told her the previous day had been disturbing, and if they were true it could prove to be devastating to the rangers.

For those reasons among others, she was falling behind on her work. She was doing alright with the show itself. But she had other concepts coming in that she was starting to look at, and those were spread among the pile of junk that was sitting on her desk. Not to mention the hundred phone calls she got each day, only half a dozen of which were actually important. This is why she decided to hire an assistant. She needed someone to filter her calls, someone to go through everything that was sent to her attention to figure out what she needed to look at and what was junk. If she could get someone to manage things for her then she could deal with what she needed to deal with, alleviating some of her stress. Not only that, but she wouldn't have to worry about things getting so backed up anytime she had to go off to battle.

The problem with hiring an assistant was finding the right assistant. She interviewed several candidates the previous week and none of them seemed like they would be worth anything. A few of the girls were what she considered Hollywood airheads, only wanting the job to meet boys and become an actress. The rest didn't have the qualifications or the personality of someone she would want for an assistant.

She rubbed her eyes as she took a look at the name on the next resume. Mollie Insco. She sighed as she thought about it. Hopefully this candidate would be better than the last ones. There was a knock on the door right on time. Carri called for her to come in and watched as the door swung open and a petite brunette entered.

Carri looked her up and down for a moment before a smile crossed her face. "Mollie Monroe?" she questioned glancing at the girl who was a friend in college

"Once upon a time." Mollie replied giving her a smile. She was just as surprised to see Carri as Carri was to see her. All she knew was that she was being hired for a job as an administrative assistant for a company called Ausus Productions.

"It's good to see you." she said as she walked over and gave an old friend a hug. They broke the embrace and Carri gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "Have a seat." she said as she walked back around and sat down

"So I take it Abs is your husband?" Carri questioned, recalling that her college boyfriend was Steven "Abs" Insco.

"Ex." Mollie quickly corrected. They had gotten married right after college and it was pure bliss for a while. That was up until a year ago when she caught him in bed with his secretary. "The divorce just finalized recently. When I have time I'm going to go to the social security office and drop the Insco."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Carri said. They made quite the couple in college but she always thought he was somewhat of a playboy. It wasn't surprising that he cheated on her with his secretary.

"Let's not talk about that jerk. I'm here for a job." Mollie suggested giving her a smile. The last thing she wanted to do was remember the end of her marriage.

"Of course." Carri said. She understood not wanting to recall bad endings. She had a few of those in her life. "So it says here you worked for the president of D&S Designs up until a few months ago. What happened there?"

"The company folded. An up and coming designer named Ashley Hammond blew them out of the water. It was a nice place to work but they definitely weren't at her caliber." Mollie explained

Carri couldn't help but chuckle. She knew Ashley was great and she was amused at the thought of her blowing the competition away. "So it looks like you did pretty much the same things I need. Someone to sort my mail, keep up with my appointments, filter my calls, filter the projects coming my way, that sort of thing."

"All of that I am well qualified for." Mollie quickly pointed out. She was in desperate need of a job now that she was on her own. It was hard finding a place to work for that she thought she would like, where the boss seemed to like her.

"Well," Carri started looking over the resume. There were a million questions she usually asked an interviewee. She had to make sure that her hire was the right fit for her. Someone who could pick up the business stuff, take care of the little things for her, and not ask questions when she disappeared for periods of time and was unreachable. But there weren't many questions she felt she needed to ask Mollie. After all this was the girl who she signed up for classes with, who she had lunch with, and who she spent hours in college goofing off with. She had the qualifications, there was no doubting that. And she knew that their personalities went well together. "You're hired." she said matter-of-factly

"Really?" Mollie asked surprised that she would get the job after such a short interview. The last few interviews she had been on had been painfully long and more than awkward.

"You need a job, I need someone to start as soon as possible, and since I already know we get along well you're hired. Can you start tomorrow?" she asked hoping that the question was yes. One less thing to stress about would be fantastic.

"What time?" Mollie replied. She would start right now if Carri would let her.

Carri thought about it for a moment. With the show it was hard to say when she would actually be sitting in her office to show Mollie around. "Be here around ten. I have to oversee some stuff for the new show early but after that I can come by and get you settled in."

"Sounds good." Mollie said as she stood. "Thank you so much." she added as she smiled at her. The girls said their goodbyes and Mollie turned and left the office.

Carri let out a sigh of relief and fell back into her chair. Now that some of the pointless stuff she had to worry about at work would be off of her plate, she could relax a bit. As she sat there she thought about the show and what time she had to be there that afternoon. She knew she had to look over her script and do some final edits so she could shoot her part for the next one.

As she ran things through her head her communicator went off. Briefly she glanced down at it before jumping up to lock her office door. Upon answering the page Carri took off to fight more of their ongoing battle of good versus evil.

* * *

Kim cautiously walked onto the set of Josh's drama, her visitor badge clutched tightly in her hand. She had no idea where she was going or were Josh was, she only knew that his assistant had pointed her in this general direction. As she wove in and out of the people who were working, she saw someone she recognized.

It wasn't Josh but for Kim it was almost better as she squealed with delight and called out his name. "Adam!" she yelled as she walked faster so she could get to him

The black frog ninjetti smiled as he turned from his conversation with his wife and saw his former teammate heading his way. "Kim!" he exclaimed as she ran up to him, arms extended. He threw his arms around her and brought her in for a hug. It had been years since they'd seen each other and her being here now was a pleasant surprise. "What are you doing here?" he asked, doubtful that she flew across the country just to come visit with him

"She's here to see me." Josh pipped up as he approached them. He put a hand on her shoulder and she turned and put her arm around him, stepping on her toes to lean in and give him a kiss.

Adam looked at the duo curiously but declined to comment. "That's cool." he said giving them a smile as he glanced over at Tanya and gave her a look. Last time he saw Kim she was firmly attached to Tommy's hip. He didn't know what had changed, but he couldn't help but wonder if her adventure in space had something to do with it. Word in the ranger community was that Tommy was more than a little upset when she took off. "You remember Tanya right?"

"Of course." Kim said giving her a smile. She had only met her a few times and each meeting was brief. But she was still a former ranger and the wife of a ranger and because of that she knew a lot more about her than one might think. Of course there wasn't much about Tanya's life that was private, as shortly after the Zordon wave her singing career took off. Kim didn't listen to much of her music but she did know that she had several number one hits over the years.

"Are you just visiting the set?" Tanya asked politely. She was trying to make small talk as she didn't know Kim very well either.

"Yeah I thought it would be fun to come check out what it is that Josh does all day." Kim said with a smile as she brought her left hand up and tucked her hair behind her ear

Tanya glanced at her wrist for a brief moment and noticed what was on there. It was more high tech and more fashionable that what she remembered, but there was no doubting what it's purpose was. She glanced over at Adam who had seen it too. She wasn't going to ask about it but he didn't hesitate to.

"So you're active again?" he questioned

"Huh?" she asked not sure what he was talking about. Adam pointed down toward her communicator and it hit her. "Yeah I'm pink. The whole team's back together. Fighting Callisto and Rhianna. Didn't anyone catch you up on the meeting you missed?" she asked

"Not really." Adam said sheepishly. Tanya was taping for a talk show and Adam was tied up in a conference all afternoon and neither could make the ranger gathering. "Who's the whole team?"

"Me, Carri, Jason, Rocky and Tommy." she replied. "We're the Turbo rangers. I can't believe noone told you about this."

"Me neither." he said. He had called Rocky to find out what he had missed. He knew Callisto was back, and that they were recruiting rangers to fight her. Rocky had failed to mention that they were the rangers that had been recruited. His impression was that their involvement was going to be as consultants and ninjetti's and nothing more. Perhaps it was best that he didn't go to the meeting, as he would have wanted to participate with his friends in the fight against Callisto. "How's it going?"

"As well as can be expected. Rhianna's getting stronger and Callisto still hates us so." Kim stopped and shrugged. There wasn't much to say about the fight. If he had a few hours she could sit down and give him specifics but she doubted he wanted that.

"If you ever need help let me know. I'll do what I can." Adam promised

"We will." Kim assured him just as her communicator went off. She sighed and started glancing around to see if she could find a secure place.

"Follow me." Tanya said. She had been on the set enough times to know where the few quiet places were.

"I'll be back." Kim said flashing a smile toward Josh and Adam as she let Tanya lead her off

"So you're dating the pink ranger?" Adam questioned one the girls were out of earshot

"Yeah. It's been almost six weeks now." he said practically beaming. He was having a fabulous time with Kim regardless of the fact that she was always running off to do ranger things.

"Is it hard?" Adam asked. Josh looked at him curiously and Adam continued. "Dating a ranger. Knowing that she may run off and never come back."

"I try not to worry about it. After all she's done it for all those years. They all have there's no need to worry." Josh said. He did worry a bit, he couldn't help it. But he certainly didn't let it keep him up at night.

"Things happen to experienced rangers. Trust me." Adam said. He didn't want to see his friend not grounded in reality. Sure they were great rangers but that didn't mean that they couldn't get hurt or even worse. He knew for a fact that no matter how many years you donned the uniform, you still put your life on the line every time you walked out onto the battlefield.

"Thanks for the concern but I think everything will be fine." Josh assured him. He was hoping Adam would be quiet before he started seriously putting doubt into his head.

"If you say so." Adam said as he gave him a half smile. There were a lot of interesting things going on in Angel Grove, a lot of things he wasn't sure if he believed or not. He would definitely have to get up with his best friend and make him tell him everything.

* * *

Jason sat in the room of his house that he had designated for an office. It wasn't much, but he had made it an optimal place to write. Which was good for him since he made a living out of it.

He had spent most of the morning working on the rewrites on his new book. His publisher was pressuring him to get it out sooner rather than later. However with the new developments going on around him he was doing several revisions and additions to make the story better.

The goal with this book was to start a new Luke Kirk series that would be loved by fans. The first series was far from over, but it was at a lull. Sales for the last book were good, but not nearly as good as the sales for the previous one. Plus he wasn't sure where to go with that storyline at the moment. Now he wanted to start with something new and different, something that would capture his audience all over again. He had plot ideas flowing for a series and he couldn't get them down fast enough.

If this book was a success, he already had an idea for what he wanted to write for the second book. At least for the parts of it dealing with the action. He had some thoughts for the character side of the story but he wasn't sure yet. As of now he wasn't completely sure how he was going to round up the character parts of this story.

He sighed and set back, pausing to crack his knuckles. Jason needed to leave the story be for a few moments and clear his head. There was one way that was guaranteed to clear his head, and that was to take a ride on his motorcycle.

Mind made up, Jason went through the house and grabbed his keys first before hunting down a jacket and his helmet. He exited his small home and went out and sat on the bike, sliding the helmet on his head. Before he could crank it up his communicator went off.

Sighting he brought his wrist to his mouth. "Go ahead."

"The others need you in battle now." Billy's voice came through loud and clear

"On my way." he said climbing off the bike. The ride to clear his head would have to wait for later as he went back into his house and threw his helmet down before tossing his jacket on top of it. "Shift into turbo!" he yelled as he morphed and headed to the scene

* * *

That same morning Rocky found himself in the office of his Angel Grove school, going over some paperwork. It had been a quiet morning so far as he and one of the instructors spent some time cleaning the place before he came to sit down and look over some things. As he was reading down a sheet, his cell phone went off. Rocky picked it up and briefly glanced at the caller ID. He had taken the name out of his contact list, but that didn't mean he still didn't recognize the number. There was no doubt it was Jessica calling him again.

He would have thought after almost two months she would've gotten the message that he didn't want to talk to her anymore. But once in a while he still received a phone call from her. Usually her messages involved sobbing and begging, none of which he care to listen to. A few seconds later the ringing stopped and Rocky went back to his work.

Much like every other call from her, this one came with a voice message. The alert went off on his phone and Rocky sighed, going to listen to it before he deleted it. This one was a bit different than the others. This one he needed to address.

As much as Carri wasn't going to like it, Rocky went to call her back. She picked up on the first ring and sounded excited to hear from him. "Hey how are you." she said, her chipper voice a change from the woman who just spoke on his voicemail

"I didn't call to be friendly." Rocky was quick to inform her. "I called to tell you to back off of this nonsense."

"I was a model Rocky. Do you know how hard it was to remove those bandages finally only to see the deformed nose underneath? I'm going to need two plastic surgeries to get it back to normal." Jessica said quick to sound defensive and pathetic all at the same time

"So you're going to sue Carri?" Rocky questioned trying to be clear

"She was the one who broke my nose, or have you forgotten." Jessica pointed out. She thought it was an air tight plan. Carri hit her, broke her nose and ruined her life.

"Let's not forget you hit her first. And I'm the witness to that. Not to mention there is no report of the incident even happening. Any lawyer Carri would hire will tear you to shreds just based on that." Rocky said. Her suing Carri was silly at best and he knew nothing would come out of it. Still if he could help it he wanted to try and avoid giving his girlfriend anything else to want to pull her hair out over.

"My lawyer says I can win." she lied in the tone of a five year old having a playground argument. Her lawyer actually thought it was crazy but he was willing to try if she wanted him to. "But you know if you take me back I might forget about the whole thing." she suggested

Rocky sighed. So that was what the law suit was all about. He dates her and she drops it. He doesn't and she goes through with it. Part of him wanted her to do it just so she could fail and would leave her alone. "Nice try but there's no chance in hell." he replied. Nothing in this world would make him leave Carri, especially not Jessica.

"Fine then we'll see what you're girlfriend thinks when I take all her money." Jessica said trying to hold back the tears. She was hoping that she could get him to come back to her.

Rocky's communicator went off as Jessica finished speaking. "Fine." was his one word response as he shut the phone. He went to answer his page and was greeted by Billy saying that the team needed him now.

Quickly he morphed and headed to the scene, just in time to see the yellow ranger take quite a shot and fly past him, hitting the ground hard. She didn't move and he ran over to her. As he got there she was starting to twitch. "Carri?" he asked hoping for a response

"I'm ok." she grumbled shaking her head. The monster had hit her a lot harder than she expected. Rocky leaned down and helped her up and she glanced around at the rest of the team.

Tommy looked over at her. The monster was tough but they could be tougher. "Metallic armor, power up!" he yelled as the extra layer of protection coated their suits. He watched as the battle continued, making sure to stay near Kim. Already since they had gotten there he had grabbed her arm once or twice to pull her to safety, letting his hand linger a bit longer than that of someone who was just acting as a concerned teammate.

The fight was a lot harder than it should've been considering they had the metallic armor. The Cirranadrones were pushing them around like it was nothing and the monster was brutal. Tommy feared that his concerns with Callisto and Rhianna were coming to light, and that they had found a way around the metallic armor.

Jason, Carri and Rocky found themselves facing off against the small army of Cirranadrones. They also quickly found themselves getting worn out and beat down by the Cirranadrones, something they were definitely not used to. They were moving faster, punching harder, and causing more damage against their armor than they should have been. The rangers called on their weapons and tried to fight back to the best of their ability.

Although she didn't want to believe it, Carri had a feeling that Callisto's forces were now more powerful than their armor. Which meant that Tommy was right. And if Tommy was right and they could knock the rangers back this easily, Carri didn't know how they were going to stop them.

Tommy found himself wondering the same thing as he and Kim fought against the monster. They had both called for their weapons and were fighting fiercely, but it seemed like he was doing more damage to them than they were to him. Each hit Tommy took felt like it rocked him to the core. They were trying somewhat successfully to avoid the monster's arsenal as they darted around the battlefield.

After what felt like hours of getting beaten, Tommy found himself kneeling on the ground clutching his sides. Everything ached and he didn't think he could go on much longer like this. To make matters worse, out of the corner of his eye he saw Cratus and Goldar arrive on the scene. That was the one thing they really didn't need right now.

Cratus called for Kim's attention and the pink ranger took her focus off of the monster and turned it toward Callisto's right hand man. As she did the monster pulled out a new weapon, some sort of cannon, and aimed for her. Tommy saw the shot fire off and he jumped up and pushed her out of the way, absorbing the blast himself and lifelessly hitting the ground.

Kim rolled to the ground from being shoved by the red ranger and stood to see what happened. "Tommy!" she yelled running to check on a fallen teammate

The monster was not planning on letting up as he charged Kim and Tommy. Without warning there was a flash of yellow followed by another ranger standing between them taking hits and trying to push the monster back. While Carri had the monster distracted, Kim teleported Tommy up and turned her attention back toward the fight.

"This isn't working." Carri was quick to point out as she was thrown back and landed beside Kim. She was as tired and sore as everyone else and she didn't know how they were going to continue.

"Maybe we should step it up a notch." Kim suggested thinking of their Planetary powers. She didn't know how much more useful they would be in comparison to their Turbo powers, but they were stronger and perhaps they could damage the monsters.

"I'm game for anything." Carri said as she looked over at the pink ranger

Kim nodded and shifted into a morphing stance. "Planetary rangers power up!" she cried and within seconds the pink and yellow rangers were replaced with the red and white rangers

"How cute but it won't make a difference." the monster said as he fired beams at the girls, knocking them back

"That still hurt." Carri grumbled as she hit the ground

"We need to show them our firepower." Kim said sounding confident that their weaponry would be enough. In all actuality she wasn't that sure they would accomplish much more as Planetary rangers than they did as Turbo rangers, but it was worth a shot. "Fire saber!" Kim called as the weapon fell into her hands. She wasted no time going to the next level. "Power up!"

"Lightning lance, power up!" Carri called right behind her, getting her weapon and putting it to full power

Both girls attacked the monster at once with the power of fire and lightning. After several strong hits they stepped back to see if they did any damage. The monster started violently shaking and a few seconds later was engulfed by a bright white light before he exploded. The girls briefly shielded their eyes from the light.

"That was a little too easy." Kim commented

Carri shrugged. "Yeah but if it worked it worked. Come on." she said and they proceeded to take out the Cirranadrones in the same manner. Kim was right, it was too easy. They had never before been able to destroy the Cirranadrones like this with one hit from their weapons.

Seconds later the Cirranadrones were gone and the two Planetary rangers turned their attention toward Cratus and Goldar. They leaped to attack but the duo left before they had the chance.

"Let's get back to the Command Chamber." Kim said once the coast was clear

* * *

The four rangers appeared in the main room of the Command Chamber and powered down, just as Tommy came walking out of the infirmary.

"What happened out there? Our Planetary powers are good but they've never been that good." Kim pointed out

"Callisto and Rhianna have been working on ways to get through your metallic armor. From the scans I did during the battle it appears as though they used magic on their army to increase their power so that they could get through the armor." Billy started the explanation. "Your Turbo powers weren't strong enough to combat the magic. But when you used the full power of your Planetary weapons on them, it made the magic unstable causing them to implode."

"So are we going to have to run around as Planetary rangers now?" Carri asked. She didn't mind using her Planetary powers but they weren't a full team and they really needed a full team to combat Callisto and Rhianna's forces.

"No, after that I doubt she'll try the magical approach again." Billy said. At least he didn't think she would. With the magic being that unstable it would be a poor decision on her part to try that again. "There are other ways they can get around the armor. Hopefully I'll have enough time to figure out how to continue to increase your powers before they can try something like that again."

"And if you don't?" Jason asked crossing his arms and looking at Billy

Billy gave him a solemn look but didn't reply. Jason knew what would happen if he didn't. Callisto would get her revenge and Rhianna would get her planet. "We were lucky this time. Hopefully it's going to take them a while to regroup after this failure."

Kim nodded as she looked around the room at her fellow rangers. "Well I have to get going before I'm missed." she said, her gaze pausing briefly on Tommy. "Are you alright."

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a little sore is all." he assured her giving her a smile

"Good. We don't want anyone getting injured out there." she replied flashing him a quick smile before she teleported out

Rocky walked up behind Carri and put his hands on her waist, giving her a quick squeeze. "I need to get back before anyone realizes I'm not in my office."

She turned and put her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss. "Alright. Call me later." she said releasing him

He let go as well and went to hit the button on his communicator. "I will." he promised as he disappeared

Jason made an excuse about having to go home and check on some stuff for work as well. He almost slipped and said he had writing to do but was able to quickly catch himself before he let Billy and Tommy in on his secret. Jason teleported out and Billy left right behind him, having to get back to his office as well.

Once everyone was gone, Tommy flashed Carri a smile. He had stayed close to Kim and she seemed concerned for him when he got hurt. All in all, he thought it was a step in the right direction. "You think she's starting to remember me?" he asked

Carri smiled back. She was pleasantly surprised to see Kim concerned with Tommy's well being both on the battlefield and in the Command Chamber. Lately Kim hasn't cared to pay Tommy much notice, even if something happened to him. "I think so." she answered just before she teleported back to her own office

Tommy smiled to himself. Things were starting to look up for him. Hopefully soon he would have something to show for it.

* * *

Kim walked back onto the set and started looking around for her boyfriend. She couldn't help but keep her thoughts drifting back to the fight. It had it's good points and bad points. The bad of course being the magic that was used to help kick their asses. But the good, well the good was the fact that she and Tommy fought side by side and fought well together. They were working like they used to before they started dating other people. And it was kind of nice. He did get hurt but he was alright now so everything seemed to be fine.

As she wandered around the set she found Josh talking to Adam over in a corner. "Hey guys." she said as she approached

"Hey." Adam greeted. "How did it go?"

Kim shrugged. "We won. But I think the road ahead is going to be tough."

"Well at least you're back in one piece." Josh said as he put an arm around her and pulled her close, drawing her in for a kiss

"Yup." she agreed although she couldn't help but think that if it weren't for the bad magic, she didn't know if she'd be standing here with Josh right now

"Do you want to go see the set?" Josh asked. She had come and gone so quickly before he hadn't had a chance to show her much of anything.

"I'd love to." Kim said as she smiled up at him

"Right this way." Josh replied as he put an arm around her and led her off

"Later guys." Adam called as they headed off. He stood there for a moment as they both yelled their goodbyes back, then took off to do some work of his own.

* * *

"I thought you said this magic would work!" Rhianna yelled. She was in the middle of throwing a bit of a temper tantrum. Callisto assured her that the magic would get through the rangers armor and yet her warriors imploded and the rangers were still standing.

"The magic did work." Callisto was quick to point out. There was nothing wrong with the magic, it did what it was supposed to do. It made their army strong enough to break through the rangers metallic armor and give them a beating.

Rhianna crossed her arms and glared at the goddess, her eyes glowing red. "Then why is our army space dust?"

The only reason Callisto was putting up with her anger was because she was young and didn't have much knowledge about magic. Any spell could backfire, and this one was no different. It just ran higher risks than most spells. "Magic has consequences. This magic was unstable. The power from the Planetary weapons was enough to unbalance our magic and cause it to destroy itself."

"Can we try again?" Rhianna asked feeling slightly testy. There was a lot that went into the spell and if they didn't try it again, they would have a lot to straighten up before their army was back to normal.

Callisto shook her head before she paused. "I suppose we could, but the results would be much the same. We'll have to try something different."

"Like what?" Rhianna questioned

"I have an idea." Callisto assured her. She still wasn't keen on the thought of the weeks it would take to preform the manual upgrades to her warriors. The easiest way to get past the armor was still to get rid of it by attacking it at the source. She had no clue what the source was, but she knew she could find out. It would be a small task, but if she could figure out how to make the armor disappear there would be no need for them to stress out over the manual upgrades. She was going to put Cratus on it right away. Hopefully it wouldn't take more than a few days to find the rangers source and take it out, leaving them defenseless and easy for her to destroy.


	9. The Power of the Coins

**Disclaimer:** Just a reminder, the rangers still belong to Disney, Callisto still belongs to Universal, the Novas and Marie are still KSuzie's creations and everything else is still mine.

**Author's Notes:** The new chapter is finally here. There will be another new chapter sometime next month, hopefully before Thanksgiving. Work has just been keeping me busy and my hours have been crazy. But without further delay here's chapter 9. Enjoy and as always I love getting feedback from everyone.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"The Power of the Coins"

Carri sat at her kitchen table thumbing through the papers in front of her for the umpteenth time while she finished her third cup of coffee. Rocky had gone to the bakery for bagels and should be back soon. He felt guilty that Carri was going through this in the first place.

The day before she had been served with a lawsuit. It was from Jessica, who was suing her for the damages to her face and her ego among other things. She couldn't believe that the bitch had the nerve to sue her. That was the last thing she needed with everything else going on in her life. She had spent most of her Friday on the phone with her father's lawyers, faxing paperwork and going over facts. They said they would take care of everything for her, and they'll get it thrown out before it ever becomes an issue.

Although it was nothing, she couldn't help but be a little upset over it. It didn't help that apparently Jessica had called Rocky on Monday, warning him she was going to do it. Rocky never passed along the message. He said that he didn't think she was actually going to do it and that he didn't want Carri to worry about it unless it actually happened.

That was part of the bad parts of the week. The week actually did have some good parts. Mollie as her assistant was working out well. Work was much less stressful than it had been, and she actually felt like she was able to get stuff done. With the exception of Monday's attack, Callisto and Rhianna were laying low. Thursday they fought Cratus, Goldar and some Cirranadrones but that took all of five minutes. As for Kim and Josh, well Tommy was working hard on Kim. Brushing up against her, lingering with his touches, talking to her more, treating her like someone who truly cared instead of a casual friend. She hadn't spent much time talking to Kim this week as she was in New York, but she hoped it was making a difference. She couldn't wait for her brother to arrive today. She had twenty-four hours to put enough doubt in his head to get him to forget about Kim.

As she worked on her coffee the front door opened and Rocky strolled through. Carri didn't turn to see who it was as he walked into the kitchen and set breakfast on the table, pausing to kiss her on the neck. Before he sat he took the papers from her hands and tossed them aside so she wouldn't look at them anymore. "Why don't you forget about that for now." he suggested as he sat beside her

Carri rolled her eyes. "Let me think about something else. Like my lunch with Kat." Another bad part of the week. Kat had called and practically begged her to have lunch. She wanted to talk. They hadn't really spoken since Kat slapped her, and she wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about. She hoped that her cousin wasn't looking for apologies because she wasn't sure today would be the day she was in the mood to give them.

"Lunch with Kat will be fine." Rocky assured her as he opened up the bag and handed her a bagel

"Yeah after we're done screaming at each other I'm going to haul off and hit a pregnant chic." Carri replied rolling her eyes. All she could envision was their last meeting, and how close she came to ripping her head off.

"You're family, and you need to start acting like it." Rocky pointed out. He hated seeing the two girls at odds, especially knowing how close they were when Carri first became a ranger. He was never quite sure what the final nail in the coffin was. It was easy to point out Carri's negligence to Kat's wedding as the end of the friendship, but things hadn't been the same between them since well before that.

Carri narrowed her eyes and looked at him. "I promise I'll try." she said

Rocky couldn't help but laugh. "I'll take it." he said. Where Kat was concerned, an "I'll try" from Carri was about as good as he was going to get. As he took a bite of his bagel, his cell phone went off. He un-clipped it from his belt and glanced at the caller ID. He didn't recognize the number but he could tell it was local. He was almost afraid to pick it up, that it might be Jessica on the other line. But it could also be important, like one of his siblings or his mom or his other family. He flipped it open and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey!" a female voice greeted cheerfully from the other end

A smile spread across Rocky's face. It had been a long time since he'd heard that voice but he would recognize it anywhere. "Aisha, hey." he replied. "What are you doing in town?"

"Visiting. I wanted to get my boys together for lunch but I forgot about the big shot up in New York. So what do you say?" she asked pausing to wait for an answer

"To lunch?" he questioned

"Uh-huh." Aisha replied

"Sure. What time." Rocky said. He would love the opportunity to have lunch with Aisha. She had been traveling the world, visiting all sorts of places to help locals with their wildlife.

"How about you pick me up at the Hilton around twelve-thirty and you can pick the place." Aisha suggested. She hadn't been to Angel Grove in so long she didn't know what was what. The last time she spent any length of time there the Youth Center was still the place to hang out and eat.

"Sounds great. So I'll see you then." Rocky said thinking about where he wanted to take Aisha. He'd love to go to Bulkmeier's but he knew that's where Carri was meeting Kat. And he didn't want to be around in case world war three broke out in the restaurant.

"Yup. See ya later." Aisha replied

They exchanged goodbyes before Rocky hung up the phone and looked over at his girlfriend. "Who was that?" Carri asked as she continued to work on her bagel and coffee

"Aisha." Rocky replied giving her a smile. "I haven't talked to her in forever and I guess she's in town and wants to have lunch."

"That's cool." Carri said smiling back at him. At least someone was going to have a nice lunch.

Rocky took a giant bite of his bagel as he thought for a moment. "I'll call you later to see how you're lunch went. I have no idea how long I'm going to be with Aisha."

Carri shrugged. "That's fine." It was nice that Rocky was going to get a chance to see one of his childhood friends. It made her think about looking some of her own old school friends up and giving them a call. "I'll probably be calling you before that though for you to come bail me out."

Rocky paused and looked at her before rolling his eyes. "You're not going to loose your temper with Kat."

When he finished speaking Carri practically choked on her last bite of breakfast. "How long have you known me now?"

Rocky laughed before scarfing down the rest of his bagel as well. "Too long." he replied as he leaned in and gave her a kiss. He stood from his chair and held his hand out to her. "Come on, let's go take a shower and get ready."

"But you don't have any clothes here." she pointed out. If he knew he was staying the night and had to be somewhere in the morning he would usually bring a change of clothes and use her shower instead of going back to his apartment. But the previous night he knew he would have all morning and wouldn't have to worry about it.

"That doesn't mean I can't take a shower." he said giving her a goofy grin

She smiled at him and took his hand, letting him pull her up and lead her off. At least part of her day would be pleasant.

* * *

Callisto sat waiting for a report from Cratus. She had spent the better part of the last week trying to figure out what gave the metallic armor it's power. It had taken a lot of digging but Goldar finally found a contact of Master Vile's who was still alive, and Cratus had gone to meet with him.

Although Callisto wasn't known for her patience, it was alright that it had taken so long. They had spent the better part of the week cleaning up the mess that the botched magic left behind. Their forces were now finally back at full strength and ready to go. They attacked once during the week, but it was lame at best. Callisto never wanted to send the forces out, she didn't want to show the rangers their weakness. But Rhianna had insisted that they needed to remind the rangers that they were still there, full force or not. Callisto highly doubted that they would forget about them regardless of whether or not they attacked. Especially the female rangers. Even if they didn't attack, the pink and yellow rangers would still be trying to plot their demise.

"Goddess Callisto." a voice spoke from across the room

Callisto turned her head to see who her visitor was. "Cratus. What did you find out?"

"The metallic armor is being powered by the rangers power coins." Cratus informed her. He had to travel to the far reaches of the galaxy to find out that information. The creature that had it was currently hiding from the Nova Rangers, who he had come across on a planet near Rheiga 4.

"The power coins?" Callisto said, contemplating what he said for a moment. She took a second to recall what Astronema told her before she took off in the hours before the final battle. "I thought when the Ninja Zeo rangers had the coins they were stripped of their powers in the final battle." she said to noone in particular

"I don't know about any of that. But what I was told is that the power coins are still very powerful, they just aren't connected to a morphing grid which is why they can't morph with them. But they can still use them for things such as metallic armor." Cratus said. He had talked at length with his contact about the power coins and how they weren't worthless.

"Really?" she questioned rasing an eyebrow. Cratus nodded and she started thinking about it. If that was the case than all she had to do was get her hands on the power coins. And how hard could that be?

* * *

Kim and Josh were sitting in the backseat of the car as it pulled up to Carri's Angel Grove home. They waited until the driver opened the door then they both jumped out. The driver popped the trunk and pulled their luggage out, and Josh tipped the man before grabbing his small bag and Kim's two larger bags and following her to the door.

Kim searched for her keys as she headed up the walkway and toward the front door. She had a wonderful week in New York, but she was also glad to be home. She was and always will be a California girl. Here they were talking about going to the beach. There they were still wearing light jackets.

As the lock turned back from the door it made a clicking sound, and Kim turned the knob and pushed it open. "Hello?" she called out as she walked in with Josh right behind her

The only response she got was the whirling of the air-conditioning. She took a quick peak into the garage and noticed Carri's car was missing. "Looks like we're all alone." she said as she walked into the living room where Josh had already made himself comfortable

"Then why don't you come over here and have a seat." Josh suggested as he patted the couch pillow next to him

Kim grinned at him as she walked over and sat down. She curled up next to him and reached for the television remote, turning it on and flipping through the channels.

"You know," Josh started as he leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head, "there are much more interesting things to do than watch tv." he finished, leaning in and kissing her on the neck

Kim turned her head enough to catch his lips with hers before turning back to the tv. "True." she agreed as she smiled at him. Although at the moment she would probably be just as happy sitting here and relaxing. Besides who knew where Carri went or when she'd be back. The one thing she was not in the mood to hear was Carri's ranting if she busted them in the act.

"So then why are we watching tv?" Josh questioned as he kissed her on the neck again. He took his fingertips and grazed them down her arm, cupping his hand over hers and hitting the power button on the remote.

As Kim turned toward him her cell phone went off. She reached for it and Josh grabbed her hand. "Let it go to voice mail." he said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss

Kim returned the kiss passionately for a second before the phone distracted her again. "Let me see who it is." she said as she pulled away from Josh and reached for it. The number was Ashley's direct office line, so Kim decided it was probably best to pick up. "Hello?"

Josh frowned and leaned back into the couch as Ashley replied. "Hey. I know you it's Saturday and you just got back but I was hoping you could come in for a bit. I've got something that's got to be ready to go by Monday."

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Kim told her, pleasantly surprised that Ashley called her when she needed help. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Great. See you soon." Ashley said as she hung up her phone

Kim hung up as well and was quickly pulled back by Josh. "Now no phones, no tv, just me and you." he said as he raised her chin with his finger and kissed her throughly

For a few moments Kim allowed herself to fall into him. His kisses, his touches, they were wonderful. He paused for a second and Kim pulled herself back into reality. "Maybe later? That was my boss, she needs my help."

"On a Saturday?" Josh questioned in disbelief

"She said she's got something that has to be done by Monday. I promised I'd help. But later it will just be me and you, ok?" Kim said giving him a sympathetic smile

Josh sighed. He was not one for later. But for Kim, he supposed he would make an exception. "Fine. Later." He grinned and pointed toward her. "But you better make good on that."

"Promise." she said as she smiled at him and ran off into the bedroom to get changed

* * *

Kat sat at a table at Bulkmeier's that afternoon waiting for her cousin to arrive. They had a lot to talk about. She still had plenty to say about her wedding, but she wasn't sure if today was going to be the day she was going to say those things. Today she was more concerned about her cousin. Her other cousin, the one who bothered to come to her wedding and is now involved with one pink ranger.

No matter how much Carri insisted that she couldn't be there, Kat would still hold it against her. She had Marie there as her maid of honor, but it wasn't the same. She had known Maire for a few years and they had become close. They knew a lot about each other, but she still didn't share the same things with her that she shared with Carri.

When Kat when to officially ask Carri to be her maid of honor, she was more than a little surprised by what she found out. She went to the apartment that her cousin and Rocky shared and was told that her cousin was in space with no return date. She was crushed that she would do that to her friends and family, to the people that needed her. They weren't rangers anymore, it didn't matter what the evil was it wasn't their problem.

Of course Carri would tell you differently. She shouldn't be surprised. Years ago when she quit being a ranger she could see how devoted the rest of her team was. Since then Kim and Carri have chased bad guys in space and Tommy has run his own team against his own villain. Jason and Rocky's re-involvement with the Turbo team didn't surprise her either.

Kat was jerked out of her thoughts when the chair across from her scraped against the ground. "Hey." Carri greeted as she sat and gave her cousin the biggest, fakest smile she could come up with. She was not going to give her any genuine pleasantries until she was sure what this lunch was about.

"Hey" Kat returned the greeting while smiling sweetly at her cousin. She waited until Carri flagged down the waitress to order a drink before she spoke again. "How are you?"

"Good." Carri replied, wondering how long she'd have to make small talk before Kat got down to it.

"Rocky's good, work's good?" Kat questioned watching as her cousin smiled and nodded. "How's, you know." Kat asked as she reached out and touched Carri's communicator

Carri was a bit startled by her cousin's touch and she jumped back. "It's going." she said as the waitress returned with her tea

"Callisto's still around?" Kat asked

"Uh-huh." Carri said grabbing some sweetener and pouring it into her glass. She was already done giving answers to questions she didn't even think Kat cared about. If she was going to ream her she wished she'd do it so Carri could just take care of this and get out of there.

"I've seen the footage from the fights on the news. It looks like things are getting tougher." Kat said continuing with the small talk

Carri let her spoon clang down to the table. "Somewhat." she replied. She saw her straw sitting in the center of the table. Out of boredom she leaned on the table and propped her head up with one hand and used the other one to spin her straw around a few times without touching it.

Kat gasped and smacked her hand on the table to stop the spinning straw. "Did you do that?" she asked looking at Carri curiously

"Yeah." she said, deciding that she wanted the straw. With a small flick of the wrist it flew out from under Kat's hand and into her own.

"But how?" Kat questioned

"Telekinesis." Carri said nonchalantly as she unwrapped her straw and stuck it in her drink. At least now Kat would be off of the pointless small talk.

Kat didn't even know her cousin had those kind of abilities. "Well," she said giving her a quick smile, her thoughts now completely off the earlier questions

The waitress walked over and Carri quickly ordered. Kat took a few seconds to compose herself before she ordered as well. Once they were finished the two girls sat in silence staring at each other from across the table.

Carri couldn't take it much longer. She was going to get to the bottom of this if it killed her. "So what's up?"

"Not much." Kat said sweetly. "Work is going good. Chris is doing fine and the baby is healthy." she replied putting a hand on her stomach

"That's good." Carri said pausing for a second before she thought about how to phrase her next question. "But I wanted to know what's up with us? With lunch?"

"Can't a girl just want to have lunch with her favorite cousin?" Kat questioned. She was at least waiting for the food to come before she started drilling her on Kim and Josh.

Carri rolled her eyes. "Considering I thought we were going to kill each other the last time we talked, no."

"I thought maybe we could make up for that." Kat replied

"And? There's always an and Kat I'm not stupid." Carri said glaring her down

Kat sighed as she took a sip of her drink. Carri wouldn't drop it until Kat got down to it so she would. "And I thought I could ask how your family is doing. How your brother is doing."

"My brother?" she asked raising an eyebrow. This was getting a bit weird.

"Yes. I heard he had a new girlfriend." Kat said giving her a quick smile. "A certain pink ranger."

"Oh." Carri said as it dawned on her. Kat has never been Kim's biggest fan and she probably is no happier about the two together than Carri is. That must be what this lunch was all about. "Yeah they've been together for a few weeks now."

"Isn't that nice." Kat said the sarcasm in her voice showing. It was anything but nice. She was hoping she could get dirt on their relationship so that she could talk Josh out of dating Kim. He deserved someone much better. Someone who wouldn't run off and crush him. Someone who she would consider a better person.

"Yeah it's great." Carri said with enthusiasm. Kat didn't like Kim dating Josh and she was going to play it for all it was worth. If she said the right things she could get Kat to run to Josh and help contribute to her and Tommy's break them up plan. Of course she couldn't tell her about the plan. Even though she was married, the last thing Kat would want to do would be give Kim back to Tommy. "I'm sure it's awesome for him to date her. He gets to watch as she runs off to save the world."

"You think he likes that?" Kat questioned. She could hardly imagine anyone being able to watch someone they love run off to put their lives in danger everyday.

"I'm sure he does. I mean Emily loved it." Carri said giving Kat a smile. Carri was close enough to Emily when they were rangers before to know that she had confided in Kat her hatred of what Jason did, and all her fears every time they ran into battle. Of course Kat probably doesn't realize that Carri knows that information as well.

"True." Kat said although Carri's statement was far from it. Emily despised Jason's running of to be a ranger. That might be an angle she could use with Josh. Talk about how hard it is to be on the outside looking in. Watching them be rangers and risk their lives everyday, knowing that they're a tight knit group that you can never be a true part of.

"I'm happy for them. They're just so cute together. And how awesome would it be to have Kim as my sister-in-law. She'd be part of our family." Carri commented as their lunch arrived. She knew if she hadn't pushed Kat enough to say something to Josh yet, that comment would do it.

The thought of Kim becoming a part of their family was enough to make Kat ill. "Oh yes, how great." she said. She was absolutely going to have to plant some ideas in Josh's head before that happened. She would make it seem like dating a ranger was the worst idea in the world. They would break up if it killed her.

* * *

While Carri was working on Kat, Rocky and Aisha were having lunch across town at a deli. They were seated and had ordered their food before they started catching up.

"So how have you been?" Aisha asked smiling over at her childhood bestfriend

"Good." Rocky replied smiling back at her. Having Aisha in town brought back a lot of fond memories. He only wished Adam was here as well.

"You still have your school here in town?" she asked. The last time she visited Angel Grove, Rocky had given her a tour of his karate school.

Rocky nodded. "Yeah. Along with one back home in Stone Canyon and one in Los Angeles. The Angel Grove school is still my baby." he said pausing for a moment. "What about you, what part of the world are you running off to save next?"

She grinned at him. "San Diego." she replied as he narrowed his eyes and looked at her strangely. "I'm moving back to California. I'm going to be the head zoologist for the zoo and wildlife parks."

"That's awesome." Rocky said. It would be great to have her close by again. They'd be able to hang out some.

"I know I can't wait to start my job. I spent yesterday searching for apartments down there. And I figured I'd come see everyone today. How's the old team doing?" she asked referring to their ranger teammates

"Tired of fighting." Rocky said giving Aisha a slight smile. She hadn't made the last ranger meeting either as she was out in the middle of nowhere and they couldn't get a hold of her. It was alright though, as he wouldn't have expected her to volunteer anyway.

Aisha raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that me, Tommy and Kim along with Jason and Carri are a ranger team again. And Billy runs our Command Chamber." Four out of the six rangers Aisha had served with were now back in the game.

"Really?" Aisha questioned her eyes growing wide. "What in the world would make you guys want to be rangers again?"

"Callisto." Rocky said simply. At least she was what drove Carri back into the rangers, she influenced his decision, and he was pretty sure she influenced Jason and Tommy's as well.

"You mean that blonde goddess?" Aisha questioned struggling to remember her from their one encounter. Rocky nodded and she continued. "She didn't die with everyone else."

"Nope." he replied although he wished more than anything she had. He would have a relatively normal life right now. He often found himself imagining what life would be like if it hadn't been for Callisto. He would still have his schools, only he would be married to a woman who would definitely be a local star, maybe even a regional or national star by now. They would've had a house, kids if he could talk her into them. Instead of all that Callisto came back and he was forced to start over.

"Does she still hate your ex-girlfriend?" Aisha asked referring to Carri

"I think she's still number one on her hit list." Rocky replied flashing her a smile. "And Carri's my girlfriend now." he added. Last time he spoke with Aisha, Carri was still in space and he was dating Jessica.

"Good for you guys." Aisha said. It shouldn't come as any surprise to her that they hooked up after she got back. "My love life is non-existent." she said with a slight frown. Her last boyfriend had been a brilliant doctor and traveled the world with her healing people while she was healing animals. That relationship lasted about a year before they parted ways. Now she was single and looking. "So if you have any sexy single friends, send them my way."

Rocky laughed. "If I come across anyone you'll be the first to know."

"I'd better be." she said with a grin as their sandwiches were placed in front of them. As the conversation silenced and they started eating, she thought about how nice it was to be back in the states and to be able to visit with people who she considered her closest friends.

* * *

Carri arrived at her house after she finished up her lunch with Kat. She pulled into the garage and noticed Kim's car was missing. Which meant she had made it home and had probably taken off with Josh somewhere. She hit the button for the garage door and walked into the house, surprised to find Josh sitting on the couch.

"Hey." she greeted her brother. Josh turned and saw her standing there and he stood. "Where's Kim?"

He went to give his sister a hug before he answered. "She had to go into work for a while."

"That's too bad." Carri said although in reality it was perfect. With Kim being gone, she could work on Josh for a bit. "How was your week in New York?"

"Good." he answered as he sat down and his sister sat beside him

"And mom and dad?" she questioned trying to get the pleasantries out of the way

"They're doing good. They both want to see you soon." Josh told her flashing her a smile

"Right." Carri said rolling her eyes. Her mother probably wanted to see her just about as much as she wanted to see a nuclear explosion. She knew that her mother wasn't too fond of her most recent choices. Not that she'd ever been fond of her choices, but lately all she's done has been to piss her off.

"Mom still wants to see you regardless of how angry you make her." Josh said with a grin. At least she wanted to see her on occasion. Carri in large doses tended to give their mother a headache.

"Whatever." Carri replied before going to change the subject. "So how are things going with Kim?" she asked satisfied that she could leave the topic of her mother while brining up what she really wanted to talk about

"Kim's amazing." Josh replied

"And the long distance thing is working out ok?" she questioned looking at him curiously

"Yeah it's going good." Josh said. On more than one occasion he had been tempted to have a fling just for female companionship. But he loved Kim and knew that he would see her soon and he managed to make up for the three weeks apart during their one week together.

"I'm glad to hear that. I know how hard it is for rangers to have long distance relationships." she said giving him a smile and trying to bait him

"What's that supposed to mean?" Josh asked. He had no idea what his sister was trying to imply with that statement.

Carri tried not to smile as her brother took the bait. "Something about being a ranger, saving the world. You have this need for close companionship. Especially when you're always running off planet and working closely with other rangers you develop feelings." Carri said shrugging as though it was no big deal. "But it looks like you and Kim are going to break that cycle."

"What cycle?" Josh said asking more questions to try and get his sister to elaborate.

"Tommy and Kim once had a long distance relationship. She went to Florida and he was here being a ranger with Kat. One thing led to another and, well you know." she said knowing full well that nothing happened between Tommy and Kat until after the letter. But they were getting close before that and it was good enough. "It happened to me too. I left Rocky here to go off into space and it didn't take long working with Zhane before we were in bed together. Nobody plans on this stuff happening, it just does."

She paused for a second as she watched her brother frown, then she continued. "But you and Kim work great together. She'd never cheat on you with Jason or Tommy." Carri said brushing it off like it was nothing. Of course what Josh didn't know was that Jason was not the one he had to worry about. If everything went according to plan, she'd be leaving him for Tommy.

Josh hadn't thought about that before. Long distance relationships were hard enough, but he could only imagine it was worse when the other person worked closely with two guys whom she had good relationships with. They had to protect each other's lives, they did missions together to save the world and those were the kind of bonds that Josh could never have with Kim. "I trust her." he said giving his sister a smile. He did trust her, although he wasn't sure about trusting the other rangers.

"That's good." she replied. From the sound of his voice she could tell she had planted doubts in his head. The conversation paused and she glanced toward the movie he was watching on tv. "I need to go get some stuff ready for Monday." she said as she stood. "I'll leave you to your tv." she added before she headed into her small office space. She was planning on letting her brother stew on this for a while before she tried to plant some more ideas in his head. Hopefully this would be the start of getting her brother to think twice about dating Kim.

* * *

"I know how to get the rangers coins." Callisto said as she strolled into the throne room where Rhianna was sitting

"How?" Rhianna asked. The goddess had her full attention now. She had heard that the rangers power coins were powering their armor, but as much as she racked her brain she couldn't come up with a way to get them from the rangers.

"We kidnap someone. Someone close to them. We won't give them a choice, they'll have to turn over their power coins." Callisto said smiling at Rhianna. She had yet to decide who they should kidnap, but it was a start. The rangers would do anything for their friends and that could only be good for her.

Rhianna grinned. That she liked. It was devious and it would torment the rangers until they would have to give in. "Who do we take?"

The goddess shrugged. "We need to find a good candidate."

Rhianna was full of suggestions. She had spent most of her day spying on the rangers. "What about the yellow ranger's cousin?"

"No." Callisto said quickly. She spied enough on the rangers to know that ever since she turned Kat evil she and Carri hadn't been close at all. Neither Kim nor Tommy would be torn up if she went missing, and she wasn't sure if Jason or Rocky cared one way or the other. They needed to kidnap someone who the rangers were going to be upset enough about to turn over their coins.

"Perhaps her brother? He is dating the pink ranger."

Callisto thought about that scenario for a moment. Although the two females would be upset it wouldn't really get to the males. In fact from what she could tell, Tommy would prefer to leave him with her. "No."

Rhianna sighed. She hated that all of her suggestions were getting shot down. Those were the two people she had seen have the most interaction with the rangers. There were a few others she had seen around but she didn't see how they would help their cause as they didn't seem to know all of the rangers. "Well there is a girl the blue ranger is having lunch with."

"Who?" Callisto questioned her curiosity peaked

Using her staff, Rhianna brought up an image of Rocky and Aisha who were still sitting at a table chatting long after the food was gone. Callisto stared at the image a moment before smiling.

The girl she recognized. As a former ranger and teammate to three of the current rangers, she'd do nicely. "Perfect." she said as she went to get ready to attack

* * *

Rocky and Aisha sat at the table reminiscing about times past. It had been almost an hour since they were finished with lunch, but they were having such a good time that neither of them noticed.

As Rocky finished up with a story from their childhood Aisha sighed. It was memories like that one that made her wish she had never left for Africa. Sure it was wonderful and it opened up so many doors for her, but it closed several other ones back home.

"What's wrong?" Rocky asked picking up on her change of mood

"Wrong? Nothing. I just missed you guys, that's all." Aisha replied smiling at him

"Now that you're only a few hours away, we'll definitely have to make up for it." he assured her. He smiled over at her and her face paled as she jumped out of her seat and stepped back. "What?" he questioned not sure what was going on

"I don't think she's very happy to see me." a voice said from behind

Rocky jumped up and spun around to see Callisto standing there with Cratus by her side. "What do you want?" he snapped

She grinned wickedly at him. "I saw there was a ranger reunion going on and I thought I'd stop by for a visit."

He didn't know what she meant by that, but he did know that whatever it was it couldn't be good. "Aisha get out of here."

Aisha turned to run only to be greeted by Goldar and several Cirranadrones. "Yellow ranger, how good it is to see you again." Goldar greeted

"I can't say the same thing about you." she said glaring down at an enemy that she hadn't been faced with in years

Rocky wasn't sure what to do. The restaurant was clear of everyone except Aisha as most of the patrons had gone running at the first sign of trouble. Still there were too many people standing outside staring in for him to attempt to morph. He would have to figure out a way to protect them both and hopefully the team would be there soon.

He didn't get much time to figure out how he was going to do that as Cratus ran to attack him while Goldar and the Cirranadrones ran toward Aisha. He fought Cratus hand to hand for a moment. Cratus kicked him back and the next thing he knew Callisto used her powers to throw him across the restaurant. As he tried to pull himself to his feet he heard Aisha screaming for help. He looked to see her surrounded, then the entire group disappear.

The people who had fled the restaurant were starting to poke their heads back in. Rocky ran the opposite direction toward another exit so he could find a safe place and teleport to the Command Center before they caught up with him and wanted to ask questions.

* * *

Carri casually walked out into her livingroom. She wanted to stroll through to the kitchen to get a soda, all the while talking to her brother to try and get a feel for things. "How's your movie?" she asked

"Ok." Josh said with a shrug. He hadn't been paying it too much attention, he kept thinking about what Carri said earlier.

"Only ok? It's got your favorite action star in it." she pointed out. If he wasn't more excited about it than that, he had to be thinking about what she said. She walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, grabbing a soda.

"What you want me to say it's the best thing I've ever seen?" he asked giving his sister a slight smile as he turned in her direction

She rolled her eyes and popped open the soda can, walking back into his line of sight as she took a sip of it. "No but..." she started as her communicator went off. She turned and set her drink down on the counter as she answered it. "What's up?" she said casually, figuring Callisto and Rhianna wanted another meaningless fight

"You need to get up here now." Billy said sounding a little more on edge about the situation than usual

"On my way." she said flashing Josh a smile before teleporting up to the Command Chamber

She arrived almost simultaneously with the rest of the team. Except for Rocky, who was leaning against one of the consoles with his arms crossed and his eyes glued to the floor. "What's wrong?" she asked putting a hand on his arm trying to get him to look over at her

"I failed." he said softly. He couldn't believe that he had allowed Aisha to get kidnaped.

Carri turned her attention toward Billy and looked at him curiously. Billy waited until the others turned toward him as well before he spoke. "Aisha's been taken by Callisto." he said simply

"What?" Tommy questioned. He had no idea the former ranger was in town let alone a prisoner.

"What does she want with her?" Kim asked as Tommy finished speaking. She and Aisha used to be close friends and she was more than a little angry that Callisto had taken her.

"We don't know yet." Billy replied. He had a feeling they would hear her demands sooner rather than later. She was never one to make them wait.

Kim crossed her arms and frowned. Tommy reached out and put a hand firmly on her arm. "It will be ok." he assured her. She nodded and he removed his hand.

Jason looked at the duo curiously before shaking that thought off and moving on. "Can't we search for her?"

"She doesn't have powers so we can't search that way." Billy said as he thought for a moment. "There's a way to search for someone based on DNA but it's not very accurate and there's no guarantee we'll get any results." It would show the most recent places her DNA has made contact with. But with her being teleported off to who knows where, there was no real way to use that to find her.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Carri said. There had to be a reason for Callisto to go after a former ranger. Considering she wasn't good at keeping secrets, the goddess would tell them why she had her and where she had her. It was just a matter of time.

"We need to do something to find her." Rocky said lifting his head up and looking around at his teammates. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her because of him.

Tommy thought about it for a moment. Rocky was right, they had to do something they couldn't just sit around here and wait. "What if," he said stopping as a noise went off in the Command Chamber

"What's that?" asked Jason as he looked around the room

"An incoming transmission." Billy replied as he went to answer it

"Whoever it is, tell them we'll contact them later." Tommy said with authority in his voice. Now was not the time for them to worry about galaxy gossip, and if any other team needed help at the moment they weren't in the position to give it.

Billy traced the transmission and made a face. "We may want to answer this one." he said as he realized the signal that was coming through had been patched into their system from someone on the moon. The rangers gathered around him as he pulled up the transmission.

"So nice to see you rangers." Cratus hissed as his image came up before them. "Now I present to you goddess Callisto."

Carri rolled her eyes at the introduction as Cratus moved out of the way and Callisto came into view. Callisto quickly pushed Aisha, bound and gagged, forward and to the floor. She stood over her with her sword pointed toward her neck as she smiled at the rangers. "I'll make this very simple rangers. You have one hour to meet us at the coordinates I'm going to send you. You will give me your power coins and I will give you your friend. Fail to comply and you will get her back in pieces." she said simply. She let out a laugh as the transmission came to a close.

Tommy looked around at the other rangers. He knew that giving up their coins was not a valid option. He was the first to say aloud what the others had been thinking. "We have one hour to figure out how to save Aisha."

* * *

Kat pulled into the driveway of Carri's Angel Grove home. As she stepped out of the car she got her first glimpse of the house. Considering she and Carri had only spoken one other time since Carri had been back and that ended poorly, she hadn't seen the house. She only knew the address because her parents gave it to her.

Slowly she headed up the small walkway and toward the front door. As she stepped onto the front porch she rang the bell.

A few seconds later the door opened. "Hey Kat." Josh greeted as he leaned in to give her a hug

"Hey." she replied returning the greeting and the gesture

"Come in." Josh said as he turned and gestured for her to enter the house

"Thanks." she said as she stepped through the front door. Kat walked into the house for the first time and looked around at front of the house, noticing the porch with the view of the lake. She couldn't help but feel jealous of her cousin. She had only been back on Earth for a few months and already she had this beautiful home in a prime location with top of the line things. Kat spent the last few years working very hard for what she had. She and Chris owned a small ranch style home in a tiny neighborhood near the outskirts of Angel Grove. All of their belongings were either passed on used or bottom of the line merchandise. With the baby coming she didn't see that dynamic changing anytime soon. It frustrated her to know that her cousin didn't have to work nearly as hard to make this kind of life for herself.

She took a deep breath and tried to push the jealous feelings aside as she went and sat on the couch. She flashed Josh a smile as he sat down next to her. "So how have you been?" she asked

"Good." he replied smiling back at her. "And yourself?"

"I'm doing good." she assured him

"The baby is good too?" Josh asked. He couldn't believe that Chris and Kat were having kids already. He didn't know Chris very well, but from the few times he's met him he could easily see why his sister was so adamant that he wouldn't make a good husband or father.

Kat put a hand to the bulge that was forming. "The baby is great." she said glowing. "You should get married and have one so it can grow up with mine." she suggested trying to wiggle her way to the point of her visit

Josh laughed. "Not anytime soon." It would be quite a special woman that would get him to settle down with one person. Kim definitely had potential, but he would have to wait and see.

"Why not? I hear you have a pretty serious relationship going with Kim. What about her?" Kat questioned smiling sweetly at him. She hoped the response would be that Kim's not the marrying kind. That Kim and I have a rocky relationship.

"We've been dating a while now. Things are fantastic. But not enough to think about marriage." he replied

That calmed part of her fear of Kim becoming a member of her family but not enough. "Where is Kim I haven't seen her in forever?" Kat questioned. Before she tried to put doubt in his mind about their relationship she wanted to make sure Kim wouldn't be coming around any time soon.

"She went to work." Josh replied as he thought for a moment. "Although I suppose she's off being a power ranger right now. You just missed Carri, she got a page and took off a few minutes before you got here."

Kat nodded. That was fortunate for her, it gave her the perfect opening. "That's right I forgot your girlfriend was the pink ranger."

Josh grinned. It turned him on more than just a little to watch the news and see the pink ranger running around in tight spandex and know that she was all his. "Yeah it's pretty wild."

"How's that going, dating a power ranger?" Kat questioned

"Good." Josh said. Yes he worried about her but at the same time he always believed she would pull through.

Kat reached over and put a hand on his leg giving him a sympathetic smile. "If you ever need to talk about anything don't hesitate to call."

"I'm fine, really." Josh tried to assure her

"I'm sure you are now. Jason's ex Emily was for a while. I was for a while." Kat said giving his knee a squeeze before letting go and leaning back. "After you get over the initial amazement of dating a ranger things change. It's really hard being on the outside. Watching the people you love go off to save the world everyday. Knowing they share something special that you can't be a part of. Knowing they're out there risking their lives and not being able to do a thing about it."

Josh said nothing and Kat continued. "Poor Emily used to beg Jason to quit being a ranger. But he's part of the best ranger team ever. And ask any of them, duty comes first. Being a ranger consumes them. That's why Kim and Carri ran off into space. As far as their concerned they'll just jump right into battle even if they thought they could die." Kat said. It was all the truth, she was just trying to make it sound worse than it was.

"Yeah I suppose." Josh finally spoke. Kat was making it sound like this was some sort of obsession. He knew Kim was always involved in ranger things. He couldn't imagine her knowingly putting her life on the line for the sake of the rangers.

"You'll always be an outsider and you can never get in. It's easy to get jealous and angry among other things. Emily and I needed each other to keep the other from going insane. You'll eventually need someone too. I want you to know I'll be there for you." Kat finished

Josh had never given much thought to Kim's being a ranger. Several people said it was hard being on the outside and he was starting to see that. They would be in the middle of an intimate moment and she'd run off to be a ranger. Sometimes when she came back she was a new invigorated person. It was hard sometimes to watch her go and come back. To hope she'd come back soon and in one piece. He was falling in love with Kim but every ranger he talked to was giving him another thing to make him stop and think about it.

* * *

The rangers were in the Command Chamber working on trying to find a way to rescue Aisha. The others had been discussing options for the last half an hour while Billy was furiously working. The blue Ninjetti walked back out into the main room with a box in hand. "What do you think?" he asked as he opened up the lid of the box

The others gathered around him and glared at its contents. Kim picked up one of the coins from the velvet lining and carefully inspected it. "They're good. I don't think she'll be able to tell the difference." she said as she admired Billy's craftsmanship

"Until she tests them out." Rocky said as he picked up one as well. Kim was right, Callisto wouldn't know they were fakes just by looking at them. But he doubted she would give Aisha back without assurance that these were the real things.

Tommy shook his head in agreement with Rocky. "But they'll be good enough to distract her."

"That's where I come in?" Adam's voice came through from behind. He had received a phone call shortly after Callisto had captured Aisha. Kim remembered his willingness to help and decided now was a good a time as any to cash in.

"Right." Kim agreed. Now that they were finally all in the room together it was time to go over all the details they had been working so hard to hash out. "We're going to meet Callisto and Aisha at the warehouse." she started. The coordinates she had sent led them to an old abandoned warehouse in the industrial district of Angel Grove. She and Tommy had gone to stake it out so they could devise some sort of plan. "You and Billy will go ahead as Ninjetti's and hide in your positions." Kim continued. From previous experience they knew that Callisto couldn't sense them in their Ninjetti form. Plus she was expecting the five ninjetti's to show up at the trade, and she tended to forget that they had two more.

"Meanwhile we'll teleport down with the box of fake coins." Tommy chimed in continuing on with the plan as he flashed Kim a smile. "While she's distracted looking at the coins, you guys get Aisha and get out of there. We'll take care of the rest."

The plan sounded simple enough. Whether or not they could execute it the way they wanted to was a totally different story. However getting Aisha out was the most important thing. If Billy and Adam could do that, then as the current ranger team they'd worry about taking care of the rest of it.

Kim glanced down at her watch. There wasn't much time left until they were expected to meet with Callisto. "Does everyone understand what to do?" she asked making eye contact with each of the six people standing there. This was important, if they did the slightest thing wrong it would mean Aisha's life.

"Let's go rescue her." Rocky said giving Kim a nod as her eyes met with his. He was going to make sure that Callisto would think twice before touching one of their friends ever again.

* * *

Callisto sat in her dungeon grinning wickedly at the former yellow ranger as she played with her sword. It was almost time to make the exchange. "Don't worry soon I'll have what I want and you'll be free to go." she said glancing up at Aisha

Aisha did the only thing she could do, which was glare back at the goddess as she was bound and gagged. She hoped that her friends would save her but at the same time she didn't want them giving in to this crazy bitch. Especially when it involved their power coins, which could be used by Callisto to tap into the morphin grid. Although the coins weren't linked to the grid at the moment, someone as powerful as her could figure out how to do it. And if she could get into the morphing grid, she could destroy the power as they knew it.

The goddess ran her finger along the edge of the blade for a moment. "Of course if I don't get what I want it will almost be as much fun." she said moving her sword back and forth in a few quick motions. Although she really needed the coins in the long run, the thought of being able to slice and dice a former ranger was thrilling.

She was hoping for some sort of reaction from the former yellow ranger but she didn't give her so much as a squirm. For a brief second she wished she had taken Josh or Katherine, at least they would've played into her. Slowly she placed her sword in it's holder behind her back and stood. It was about that time and she didn't want to be late. She walked over to Aisha and grabbed her arm, and within seconds the duo stood in the warehouse. A few seconds later Cratus and Goldar stood by her side, their presence only to ensure that everything went according to plan.

It didn't take long before the rangers appeared in front of her. Callisto checked to make sure all five were there. They looked at her seemingly defeated. That look was almost as good as the fact that she was about to take their coins. "The power coins." she snarled smiling smugly as she held out her hand

Rocky stepped forward, box in hand. He told the team he wanted to be at the front of this as he felt like it was his fault she got taken in the first place. He clutched it tightly as he made a few steps toward the goddess. "And Aisha?"

"Coins first." she said. She wasn't stupid, just because they had a box didn't mean it contained their actual power coins. And she wasn't giving Aisha up for a box.

He approached the goddess and held out the box of fake coins. She took the box from him and opened it up to see the five golden coins nestled in the velvet lining. She picked up the coin in the center and ran her thumb over the image of the falcon. It certainly seemed real enough. There was only one way to know for sure. She handed the coin over to Cratus. "Verify this for me. Once we know it's real"

She never got a chance to finish her sentence as she was jumped from behind by the frog ninjetti. He separated her enough from Aisha that Billy was able to grab their friend, spin her out of the way and teleport them both off. Furious Callisto flung Adam across the room before drawing her sword and lashing out against Rocky. She was going to slice and dice a ranger that day if it killed her.

Quickly she backed Rocky into a corner. When he couldn't retreat anymore she swiped with her sword. Much to her surprise her sword clanged against metal. Turning she saw the yellow Turbo ranger standing there. "You didn't think I'd let you do that did you?" she asked as with one swift motion she kicked the goddess back.

Furious Callisto engaged Carri in combat. A few seconds later the blue ranger was by her side and the two were working on pushing Callisto back.

On the other side of the warehouse her warriors were fighting as well. Tommy and Kim were taking on Cratus. Tommy was enjoying the ability to be there with Kim and work well with her as well as fight Cratus together. At one point he lifted her up so that she could get a good angle to attack Cratus with.

Next to them was Goldar who was fighting against both Jason and Adam. The Ninjetti didn't have any weapons for the fight, but this was still Goldar and he knew how to take him down.

Callisto looked around the warehouse floor as she fought against Carri and Rocky. She saw the box with the coins in it sitting there in the same spot that she dropped it. They weren't using their metallic armor, which meant that box might actually contain the power coins. She threw the yellow and blue rangers back, flinging a few fireballs at them for emphasis. Maneuvering quickly she ran across the floor, grabbed the box and took off.

Rocky and Carri regrouped and went to join their friends. Seeing that Callisto had left them and not wanting to fight this fight, Cratus and Goldar left as well. Once the scene was cleared the rangers teleported back to the Command Chamber where Billy and Aisha were waiting for them.

* * *

Callisto rushed in and immediately analyzed the power coins. It didn't take long to figure out that they were fakes. Furious she grabbed the box and slung it across the room, watching as it splintered into dozens of pieces while the fake coins clanged to the floor.

She slouched into her chair as she formed a fireball with her hand. It would be so easy to go down there and burn the entire damn town. But the rangers would survive. Somehow the rangers always survived. She continued to watch the fireball in her hand for a few seconds as it calmed her temper. Once she decided she wasn't going to light anything on fire, she extinguished the flame.

The easy road had failed. Twice. This left her and Rhianna with only one option. That was to do the manual upgrades. It would take a few weeks but they would have soldiers and monsters that would be able to easily penetrate the metallic armor of the rangers. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of laying low for the next few weeks, but it was the only option she had.

* * *

The rangers found themselves on Carri's deck that afternoon grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Adam had to return home, but the team plus Billy and Aisha had come by to hang out for a while. Rocky stood over the grill as members of his first ranger team surrounded him. Kim, Tommy, Billy and Aisha were all hovered around the grill as Rocky cooked, reminiscing about times past.

Josh found himself standing close to that group. He couldn't openly share his affections with Kim as not everyone there was aware of the fact they were dating. He didn't really like that as he had seen more than one look that Tommy had given Kim suggesting that he wanted her. Instead he was just here as Carri's brother, standing in the middle of this group pretending to want to get to know Aisha when really he wanted to be close to his girlfriend.

It was hard to be there as they were all sharing moments of ranger past, things he couldn't understand or relate to no matter how hard he tried. It made him wonder if dating a ranger was going to be harder than he thought it was. Not that he wanted to give it up, but now he found himself uncertain of how it was going to all turn out. For now though he was going to enjoy Kim's company. He took a long lot at her and smiled at the skin tight jeans and overly generous top she had put on that afternoon.

He wasn't the only male who had noticed what Kim was wearing. Tommy found his heart racing at the sight of her. He ached to be able to hold her in his arms again. To caress her, to kiss her... instead here he was trying his hardest to stay calm knowing that there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. It drove him crazy. She had been the only thing he could think about. Kim kept him up at night, infiltrated his dreams, and was the first person he thought of when he woke up in the morning.

He found himself making up reasons as reds that they needed to get together. Every time his communicator went off his heart skipped a beat, knowing that whatever it was it couldn't be too bad because he got to see Kim. He wanted her to feel the same way about him. She would give him smiles and soft looks, but he wasn't sure if that meant she was thinking of him the way he thought of her.

What Tommy didn't know is that Kim had been thinking about him differently lately. Not in the same way that he thought of her. But she had noticed him more, and didn't consider him as much of an asshole anymore. She would smile sweetly at Tommy, thinking about times past and how nice it was to have him in her life again. But for every smile she gave Tommy, she would turn and give Josh a seductive one that would make any man want to rip her clothes off right there. She loved Tommy, but she knew Tommy didn't love her that way and she accepted that. She was happy with Josh now, and happy that things were starting to come together.

As the trio was lost in their own thoughts, two figures watched them carefully for a moment trying to see if they could read them. "How is operation breakup going?" Jason asked turning toward Carri

The duo had sat away from the main action and were chatting while drinking beers. Not that they didn't want to be in on the fun, but neither knew Aisha well. Carri had only met her a few times and Jason met her in the days before he left for the Peace Conferences. Neither belonged in the middle of a conversation that involved reminiscing about their ranger days. Which was alright with them, that left them to hang in the corner and talk about other things.

Carri smiled at the name Jason and dubbed hers and Tommy's plan. "Alright I think. I worked on Josh for a while today. I think I'm putting some doubt in his head. Tommy's been working on Kim."

"She does seem a bit happier around him." Jason commented as they watched Kim finish telling a story before laughing and grabbing Tommy's arm

"I hope Josh is picking up on it." Carri said after Kim removed her hand from Tommy's arm

Jason glanced over at his friend. "Doesn't it bother you in the slightest doing this to your brother?"

She shrugged her shoulders before replying. "Not really. He's not exactly known for being Mr. Faithful. He'll be upset for a while but he'll be right back in the sack with the next pretty woman."

"You think he's cheated on Kim?" Jason asked. Kim was like his sister and if he thought Josh was running around cheating on her he'd kill him.

"Honestly? I don't think he has. I think he really likes her. Of course they haven't spent that much time apart either." she replied. She stopped to think about it for a moment. She knew her brother better than anyone. At the same time she really hoped that he would be good to Kim, that he would be faithful. She was her best friend and she cringed at the thought of her brother running around on her behind her back.

Jason thought about it as well. "I guess it doesn't matter." After all, they were trying to get Kim to leave Josh by taking Tommy back.

Carri shrugged. Maybe it did maybe it didn't. She knew what did matter and that was getting Kim back to Tommy. "Anyways." she said with a sigh as she took a sip of her beer

Taking that as a cue that this particular conversation was over, Jason chugged the remainder of his beer and changed topics. "So how's the stuff with Jessica going?" he asked immediately regretting bringing it up as he saw the fire rage behind her eyes

"The lawsuit is nothing but that little bitch..." she said getting so angry she couldn't think of a way to finish her sentence

"Hey I'm almost done with my book." Jason said quickly switching topics as he stood up and grabbed another beer

Carri glared at him as he walked toward the cooler and back. He had opened a can of worms and was now trying to quickly put a lid on it. For the moment she'd let him as she didn't want to go into it right there. "When's it due?" she asked as he sat back down beside her

Before Jason could reply Rocky walked over in their direction. "What's up?" he asked looking over at the blue ranger

"I'm not letting you guys sit over here and be party poopers any more." he joked as he grabbed his girlfriend by the arm and pulled her up. He put his arm around her waist and let her toward the rest of the group. She turned back to Jason and shrugged, and Jason slowly stood and went to join them.

With Carri and Jason in the conversation it switched from them talking about their days as a team to a hodgepodge of topics. The group stood around the grill as the food was being finished. Each person standing there tried to push out the million things that were on their minds so that they could enjoy an evening catching up with old friends.


	10. Starting Over

**Disclaimer:** Disney still owns the rangers and I still own Carri and Josh.

**Author's Notes:** There's a reference to the movie Grindhouse in the fic. Mainly because I just watched the movie :) Which for the record was kinda interesting and kinda weird at the same time.

This chapter brings Tommy confessing his love to Kim. Hope you all enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Starting Over"

Tommy pulled up into the driveway of his parents beach house and stepped out of his jeep. He walked up the small path covered in sand and toward the front door, pausing long enough to unlock it and let himself in. As he looked around the place he went to the couch and sat down. It was early morning and he would have plenty of time to get this place cleaned up a bit before she arrived.

He shook his head to himself. He still wasn't sure if this was a good idea or a bad one. He'd know soon enough, but if it turned out to be a bad idea it would be too late to do anything about it. But he had to do it, he had to know. He wasn't quite sure if he was going about it the right way. But back home there were too many distractions.

There were some seconds spent wondering why he was doing this in the first place. Then he recalled that it wasn't just his idea. He'd gotten some suggestions from a certain yellow ranger. Not that he could complain, he had asked for them after all.

The previous Sunday afternoon Tommy had called Carri and asked her to meet him for coffee. He wanted to meet in the Command Chamber where there was no chance of Kim finding him, but Billy refused to let him use the facility for something that wasn't ranger related.

He sat at the small coffee shop and nervously waited, looking around every corner to make sure Kim wasn't going to appear.

"Relax." Carri said as she sat down in the seat across from him, hot beverage in hand. "She's working on the garden today which means it's going to be a long time before she's ready to leave the house." It only took a second to pick up on the red rangers uneasiness. He was always uneasy with the situation with Kim. He was afraid of her finding out. Carri thought it might not be bad, that if she found out it would save them some trouble of doing this little dance. "So what's up?"

"How's it going?" Tommy asked looking at her. Kim had been home from New York for the last two weeks. He knew Carri had been talking to her but he wasn't sure if things were going well or not.

"Operation breakup?" she questioned watching as Tommy made a face. He refused to refer to their plan by the codename Jason had created. To him it seemed as though they were reducing his love for Kim and attempt to win her back to some sort of childhood game by calling it operation breakup.

Carri shrugged before continuing. "Not quite as well as we hoped. She's noticing you and talking about you more. You make her smile. But she's not in love with you, she's in love with Josh."

Tommy sighed. That's not what he wanted to hear. "You think I can change that?" Sooner rather than later because he hated playing these games with Kim.

"I think you should just tell her how you feel. It could take months to drive a wedge between those two." Carri said giving him a look

"What you think I should just drive over to the house and confess my love?" he questioned raising an eyebrow. He wasn't sure that was the answer either.

"You need to surprise her. Be romantic." Carri suggested. A girl always fell for a little bit of romance. Even ranger girls, if you could catch them off-guard.

"That's helpful." he said sarcastically. "She's not exactly going to put herself in a romantic situation with me."

There was truth in that and Carri was well aware of it. She thought for a moment, then suddenly a lightbulb went off in her head. "We won't tell her. We'll trick her." she said. Tommy gave her a look. She knew what he was thinking, there's no way to trick Kim off all people into spending alone time with Tommy. "We'll invite her to a party that you're throwing. We'll get Jason and Rocky in on it so she'll think we're all going. And when she gets there, whoops we're not there and it's all on you."

"So you want me to convince her that we're throwing a party in my little apartment?" he questioned raising an eyebrow

"You got anything better?" she asked. Not that it wouldn't work, but she would like him to find a more romantic setting if he was going to confess his love to her.

Tommy thought about it for a moment. They could go up to his house in Reefside, but he'd have to kick Hayley out and besides that was a bit of a trek for everyone. "My parents beach house." he said suddenly. He had spent some of the most romantic time in his life there with Kim when they were younger. Where better to profess his love for her than the beach house.

"Beach house?" Carri questioned smiling. If there was one place a woman could feel the romance it was on the beach. She couldn't think of anywhere better Tommy should tell Kim he loved her.

And that was what had gotten him at his parents beach house early that Saturday morning. He was going to confess his feelings to Kim. Best case scenario she loves him back and breaks up with Josh for him. Worst case she turns and runs, possibly kicking his ass on the way out.

Either way by the end of the night he would have an answer and would be able to stop worrying about trying too hard to get her attention. He took a deep breath and thought about how much he loved her, hoping more than anything that she felt the same.

* * *

Carri sat leaning against Rocky on one side of a small table at Bulkmeier's finishing up her lunch while Jason sat across from them. Her plan was to stay out of the house all day until Kim had left for the "party". She spent the morning at Jason's while Rocky was at work and once he was finished he met them for lunch.

"It's been slow lately." Jason commented as he swallowed the last bite of his burger. He was referencing the lack of attacks in Angel Grove recently. They had all been thinking about it, but noone wanted to talk about it. Since Callisto had tried to take their coins they had three Cirranadrone attacks and one monster, a fairly lame attempt named Squawk which resembled Toucan Sam with fur.

"Yeah." Carri agreed absentmindedly. She didn't want to talk about it but she wasn't stupid. Callisto and Rhianna were just toying with them while they were plotting something and she was afraid to find out what.

Rocky put an arm around Carri and pulled her into him. "Billy will let us know if something happens."

Carri looked up at her boyfriend and smiled before making brief eye contact with Jason. She didn't want to say it aloud but by then it would probably be too late. She and Kim have been talking to their contacts throughout the galaxy over the last week. Word is the duo had been moving some serious merchandise into their castle as of late. Separately nothing makes sense but if you put it together... she knew Billy was toying with solutions to the possible problem. She didn't want to think about the consequences at the moment, there was no point. When and if it happened they would do their best and cross their fingers that it would be enough.

Before she had the chance to switch to a more cheerful topic of conversation her cell phone went off. She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced as Kim's name came across the caller ID. Grinning she flipped it opened and answered. "Hey." she greeted

"Hey. What's up?" Kim asked her voice cheerier than usual

"Not much. Just enjoying lunch with Rocky." She purposefully left out Jason's presence just in case she would want to come down and hang out with them and go to the party together.

"Quick question." she said pausing for a moment. She waited until Carri said ok before she continued. "Do you want to ride down to the beach house together? I thought it would make more sense to just take one car."

"Normally I'd love to. But Rocky and I are going to be out running errands this afternoon and then we have to go help his brother out." It was only partially a lie, they were going to stop by and see his brother and he had promised to go do a few things with her.

"Ok." she said sounding kind of disappointed. "I'll see you there then."

"Yeah see you there." Carri replied as she hung up the phone smiling from ear to ear. "This is going to be great. She has no clue."

"That doesn't mean she's going to declare her love for Tommy." Jason pointed out as his phone went off. Glancing down he saw Kim's name and he picked it up. "Hey."

"Hey." Kim greeted

Jason picked up on the extra level of cheeriness as well. "What's going on?"

"Not much. What are you up to?" Kim questioned

"Just took the bike for a ride." he lied

"Cool." she said pausing for a second. "I was wondering if you wanted to ride together to the party tonight." she asked. She didn't know why but she felt strange and giddy about the whole thing and she didn't want to show up alone.

"I'm a few hours out. I'll probably go straight to Tommy's from here." he said doing a good job to convey disappointment that he didn't actually feel

Kim sighed. There went her last chance for a ride. "That's ok. I'll see you later."

"Yup. See you tonight." he replied hanging up the phone. He made eye contact with Carri who couldn't help giggling uncontrollably.

"You're evil." Rocky said as he looked down at her. She made eye contact with him and he flashed her a smile.

"What's so evil about trying to hook a friend up with her soul mate?" she questioned raising an eyebrow

"Who said Tommy's Kim's soul mate and not Josh?" Rocky asked. The answer of course was every ranger that had ever worked with the duo. Carri knew that Rocky was well aware of that as she simply rolled her eyes.

"Besides if Josh was her soul mate I think I'd puke." she added, emphasizing feelings that the boys were well aware she had

Jason chuckled. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever be able to be friends with anyone that her brother was dating without being disgusted by the image of the two having sex. Kim was different though and he knew that. Thinking of Kim with Josh to her was like incest. He smiled as Carri raised an eyebrow at him and stuck her tongue out.

The waitress came over and laid three slips of paper down on the table. Jason picked his check up and laid some money down to pay for it. Carri fished for money as Rocky quickly snatched up both of their bills and laid his check card down with them, putting his arm around his girlfriend and pulling her close. She glanced down at his card on the table and leaned into him, waiting for the waitress to come pick it up.

"So," she started smiling at the boys, "hopefully things go well and I get a call from Kim saying that she doesn't hate us and loves Tommy."

"There's still going to be hell to pay." Jason pointed out with a grin. Even if Kim didn't find out about the whole scenario she was going to be pissed about tonight regardless of what happens. And they would probably get an earful the next day.

Carri shrugged as the waitress walked over and picked up the bills before quickly walking off. A few seconds later she returned with a credit card receipt which Rocky signed. They slowly stood up and looked around at each other.

"Call me later?" Jason said, half making a statement and half asking a question

"Of course." Carri replied as they started to head toward the exit of the restaurant. She climbed into Rocky's car as Jason hopped on his bike before they each took off for the afternoon.

* * *

The afternoon dragged by. Kim spent most of it getting ready. She had to have the perfect outfit, wear the right makeup and jewelry, pick the right perfume. She didn't know why she felt compelled to look her best. After all she was just hanging out with friends. Yet she spent a long time standing in the mirror before she finally climbed in the car and started driving toward the beach house.

Something about the entire event was giving her butterflies. She didn't know what it was but she spent the entire drive thinking about it. She didn't think it could be Tommy. They were just friends now, he had made that more than clear to her before. But then again he had been so sweet to her lately. The way he'd brush up against her and talk to her reminded her of when they were together. He was just trying to be friendly but god he still knew how to send a chill up her spine.

Even though Tommy got her attention she was in love with Josh. She felt guilty about going to this party without him. Her friends would be there, it wasn't like it would be just her and Tommy. But it was at his parents beach house. It had been a long time since she'd been there. The memory of her and Tommy's amazing weekend there was enough to give her chills all over again. She had to try to forget about that and enjoy herself, while trying to keep in mind that she was in a committed relationship with a man three thousand miles away.

The nerves wouldn't go away and they only got worse as she approached the house. Pulling into the driveway she quickly noticed that the only car there was a black jeep. "Damn." she cursed to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was be the first one at the party.

She couldn't help but wonder if she should sit in the car until someone else got there. There was something about the thought of being alone in there with Tommy. Then again if she sat out in the car he might see her and wonder what the hell she was doing. She didn't want him to think she was afraid to come in.

A few minutes later she made up her mind. Slowly she opened the car door and put one foot out, taking a deep breath before pulling out the other foot. She stood up and shut her door, glaring at the house for a moment before deciding to walk toward it. She was in no rush to get there to spend alone time with Tommy. Taking her time she walked down the pathway and to the door.

Upon reaching the door she gave a quick knock. A few seconds later she heard footsteps shuffling and then the door swung open. "Hey." Kim greeted giving Tommy a smile. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked and how nice he smelled.

"Hey." Tommy replied the nerves instantly settling in. This was the moment. He'd finally find out whether or not she loved him back. He hoped this was all worth it. "Want to come in?" he asked opening the door.

"Sure." she replied stepping through the doorway. "Are the others on the way? she asked as she walked into the house. As she looked around she stiffened. The house was full of candles and rose petals. This was not party decor and it took every bone in her body not to start screaming at him. "Are the others even coming?"

Tommy took a deep breath and spent the second deciding whether to lie or not. "No."

"So what the hell is this?" she asked the anger rising

Tommy tried to speak but all he could do was stutter. He couldn't come up with the words. He couldn't explain it, he didn't know what to say, how to make her love him.

The pink ninjetti crossed her arms and glared at the Turbo leader. "Did you plot to bring me up here to show me what you've got planned for other women?" she asked harshly. There was no good explanation for the romantic atmosphere except that Tommy was expecting a date. "How dare you." she continued. "Have you forgotten that I spent the most romantic weekend of my life here with you? Now you rub it that we're not together and you're bringing someone else here? God Tommy I can't believe you. You're acting like our past together never existed, that I didn't mean anything to you. This place was special to me - to us - and you're destroying it. Why did you have to bring me all the way up here for this?"

That was the last thing Tommy heard. Words ceased to make sense. For a man who had done it all he had never been so nervous in his life. He tried to think of the right thing to do as Kim continued to yell at him about how much of an insensitive asshole he was and tears were forming in her eyes. He slowly inched toward her for fear of getting hit. As he got close enough he looked dead in her eyes. It was now or never and he was just going to do it. "I love you." he said quickly

Kim stopped speaking unsure of what to think. Before she had a chance to process what Tommy said he grabbed her arms and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers. She resisted at first before she gave in and kissed him passionately back, all common sense escaping. Tommy paused and she pulled away, turning around so he wouldn't see the tears that started falling. "Dammit Tommy." she said with feeling

"I'm sorry Kim. We tricked you into coming up here alone with me so that I could tell you that I love you and that I forgive you for what happened. You did the right thing by taking off and I know that." he said. When she didn't reply he walked up behind her and put his hands on her arms. "Of course I didn't forget our weekend here. It was the best weekend of my life. You're the only woman I've ever brought here and you're the only woman I ever want to bring here. That's why I brought you here today, to show you that I love you."

Kim spun back around and allowed herself to fall into his embrace. "I'm in love with someone else." she replied softly

Tommy took his finger and glided it down her face, getting it under her chin and lifting it up. "Josh doesn't love you like I do. He doesn't know you like I do."

Kim ignored the fact that Tommy knew the identity of her boyfriend as she glanced into his eyes. "It's not that simple." she said. She didn't want to throw away a good solid relationship based on the fact that Tommy changed his mind.

"It can be." he assured her gently kissing her lips again

"How do I know that we can work? How do I know that we won't go right back where we were again?" she asked. She found her body aching for the man in front of her even though her mind was trying to tell it no.

"Do you still love me?" he asked gazing into her eyes

"I never stopped loving you." she confessed. Even with Josh in her life, Tommy had been in the back of her mind. She truly loved Josh but she couldn't help but keep thinking about a certain ranger. Now that she was here in his arms it was becoming harder and harder to remember her boyfriend even existed.

Tommy ran his fingers through her hair before running his hand down her back. "That's all we need. We're adults now, and we're fighting together again. We know better and nothing will come between us this time, I promise."

"It's easy to make those promises." Kim said recalling that the last time they got back together they said they knew better

"We deserve this chance. I was stupid not to see it before. I know we belong together and you do too. No other man will change that." Tommy spoke glancing into her eyes.

They gazed at each other for a moment but neither said a word. Kim didn't know how to react. Right now she wanted him more than anything. She could feel the warmth of his body and his soft tender gestures against her skin. She didn't know what came over her as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his.

Tommy was surprised at first by her kiss. He hadn't expected it, he had expected her to say no and leave. He put his hands on her waist and brought her in, kissing her throughly. Memories of times past flooded back and all he could think about was how they were meant to be together. He remembered the last time they were there, the things that they did... he got excited just thinking about it.

Reason escaped Kim and she let herself go to Tommy. She returned his kisses, putting her hands under his shirt and rubbing against him, barely noticing as his hands wandered up her shirt. Before either knew what was going on both of their shirts were on a pile on the floor. A night that was meant for talking to rekindle old relationships was quickly moving to the bedroom.

* * *

Carri walked hand in hand with Rocky at one in the morning back to Rocky's brother's apartment. She couldn't believe that she had let his brother talk them into going with them to a ten o'clock showing of a movie called Grindhouse. Between being in space and being busy she didn't keep up with movie news although she wished she had because she would have certainly not wasted her time or money on that.

"That was the greatest movie ever." Matt exclaimed as his girlfriend Jamie jumped and yelled in agreement

"It was pretty good." Rocky said although he wasn't sure he agreed. But he was in no mood to argue with his brother about it at one a.m., instead he would just act compliant as they made the brisk walk back to his brother's apartment.

"What did you think Carri?" Matt asked glancing at her

She flashed him a smile and gave him a thumbs up. She learned years ago not to argue with him about his taste in movies.

"We should all go see it again that would be awesome." Jamie squealed

"If I have time. I'm so busy with work now I hardly get to see Rocky." Carri replied flashing him a smile. That was a lie but Matt and Jamie didn't need to know that.

Rocky squeezed her hand and flashed her a smile. It was nice that Matt had Jamie, they seemed a lot alike. Of course he was only twenty-three, which meant he probably wasn't looking for a long term commitment from her. Then again at twenty-three Rocky was more than ready to marry Carri.

"Jake and Kurt will go see it." Matt pointed out referencing his two best friends and roommates

They arrived outside the building that Matt called home. Rocky and Carri stopped as neither wanted to go up. It was late and both had noticed how small and how much of a disaster Matt's apartment was. "I think I'm going to get her home." Rocky said nodding toward Carri as he smiled over at his brother

"Ok. See you guys later." Matt said as Jamie waived goodbye. Rocky and Carri watched as the duo headed back into the apartment building before Rocky led his girlfriend to his car.

They climbed in and he cranked the engine up, putting the car into drive as he pulled away. Carri turned to him and grinned. "So we're about to find out the answer to the question."

"What question?" Rocky asked not quite getting what she was referring to

"The do Kim and Tommy get a third chance question." she replied as giddy as a high school girl. She desperately wanted to see them get back together. Not just to get Kim away from her brother, although that certainly was a bonus. But from the first time she'd ever seen Kim and Tommy together she thought they were meant to be together, despite the fact that Tommy was with Kat at the time.

Rocky chuckled softly. Although he didn't quite agree with Carri's antics, he did agree that it would be nice to see Tommy and Kim together again. "Hopefully they do." he said as he drove down the nearly empty streets of Angel Grove

Carri looked over and smiled at him and he smiled back, taking his hand and grasping hers with it. "So are you going to come check us out tomorrow?" Rocky questioned. He, Tommy and Jason had been asked to come down to the revamped Youth Center to do a martial arts seminar for some of the local kids. It had been a long time since they had done a seminar together and they thought it might be fun.

"I'll come by for a little bit. They made some changes to what they want to do in Venice so I have to go over those and approve them so they can start shooting." Carri said. She had voted to spend Saturday out but she knew she had to get up Sunday and get some work done or else her show would stall. They were on a roll now and stalling was the last thing she wanted.

"Good I'll be looking for you." Rocky replied giving her hand a squeeze. She smiled at him and leaned against him for the rest of the drive to her house. They pulled into the driveway and Rocky put the car in park, leaving the engine running. "I'll let you get in to talk to Kim."

"Thanks." she replied flashing him a smile

Rocky leaned in and kissed her goodnight. "See you tomorrow." he said as they separated

"Definitely." Carri replied, grinning at him as she jumped out of the car. She watched Rocky pull away before she headed up the sidewalk and to the front door, opening it quickly and going in. She locked the door before throwing down her keys and her phone and running off to find Kim.

She first checked her bedroom, which was wide open. Curious she went out toward the garage and looked for Kim's car. It was possible that Kim was out by the lake or something and hadn't gone to bed yet. One glance told her differently. Kim's car wasn't there. She tried her cell phone and it went straight to voicemail. "Oh shit." Carri said grinning. Kim not home and not answering could only mean one thing. She was still with Tommy.

* * *

Jason sat in a bar in downtown Angel Grove finishing his beer. He had come to check out the scene and try to meet someone. He was going to leave empty handed. Not that he hadn't had a lot of women hit on him. But he hadn't found one that he wanted to spend his time with.

Sadly he was almost used to leaving lonely. He wasn't worried about it though, he knew he'd find someone eventually. Carri kept saying she had ins and that she could hook him up easily. He had told her no but now he was thinking about reconsidering. Anything was better than wasting his entire night at a bar getting nowhere.

He took the last sip of his beer then called the bartender over. It was after one a.m., anyone he would meet now would be too drunk or desperate for him. The bartender came up and he asked for his tab. The man set it down in front of him and he threw down enough cash to cover drinks and a tip.

Slowly he climbed off of the bar stool and headed outside. The burst of fresh air that hit him when he opened the door felt nice, and he took it in as he walked to his motorcycle. He climbed on and put his helmet on before starting it and heading home. He enjoyed the wind whipping around him as he drove down the street. He loved days that were nice enough that he could take his motorcycle out because there was nothing in the world that compared with that feeling.

As he drove down the road he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He wasn't about to stop to answer it, whoever it was could leave a message and he'd get it when he got home. A few seconds later the phone vibrated again, this time to tell him that his mystery caller had in deed left him a message.

Jason forgot about the call as he barreled down the road and toward his home. His home wasn't much, but it was nice. Jason's work as a writer had gotten him fame and money, but he had yet to write the book that made him filthy rich. Although he was quite proud of the series he was starting now. The first book was shaping up quite nicely and the parts that his publisher had seen had been well received. It wouldn't take much more work and he would be finished with it and would pass it on, and it would be out on the shelves during the summer.

This was the first book he wrote that had a little bit of everything, and he really enjoyed it. Hopefully his fans would enjoy it as much as he did. Of course some of his fans would probably devour anything he wrote just because they loved his stories.

Jason chuckled to himself as he pulled into his neighborhood. He maneuvered through the streets until he came up to his home, pulling in the driveway and shutting the motorcycle down. He lifted his helmet off and stuck it on the back of the bike before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. The missed call had come from Carri. He was curious to know what she had to say so he quickly checked his voicemail.

She had called him to tell him that Kim was not at home and that her cell phone was turned off. She speculated that she had spent the night with Tommy as that was the only logical explanation. Jason chuckled as he jumped off the motorcycle and headed toward the front door. He couldn't wait to call her in the morning to find out what was going on. He still had a few days before he had to get his book in and this could make for some very interesting material.

* * *

Kim awoke early the next morning, naked and in bed next to a sleeping Tommy. She brought her knees to her chest and put her head in her hands. She couldn't believe she had done that. She didn't know what came over her last night. Tommy hadn't budged so Kim threw the covers off and slipped out of bed, quickly hunting down the previous night's clothes and throwing them on. She found her keys and slipped out the door before Tommy knew what was going on.

Kim wasted no time getting into the car and turning on the engine, kicking up tons of sand as she threw the car in reverse. Seconds later she was out of the driveway and flying back toward Carri's home in Angel Grove.

The entire ride home all she could think about was how much of an idiot she was. She had a boyfriend, she couldn't allow herself to succumb to Tommy that easily. She didn't know what she was going to do. The last time her heart was this torn was when she was debating whether or not to send Tommy the letter.

Eventually she made it home, pulling into the driveway and opening the garage door. She headed in as she hit the button for the garage. She could barely hear it close over the noise of the door slamming beside her. Kim tossed her keys down with force and headed in the direction of her bedroom, only to be stopped by Carri.

"So," she started grinning wickedly and leaning against the wall, "how was it?"

"You set me up." Kim pointed out anger rising. She couldn't believe her friend had done that to her.

"I set you up because Tommy still loves you. And I know you still love him." Carri quickly pointed out.

"So you threw us in the beach house together? Why the hell did you think that was a good idea?" Kim questioned tears coming to her eyes

"I'm sorry it's just... he wanted to profess his love. I figured the worst that could happen was you break his heart and leave." she replied smiling at her friend

A few stray tears fell down Kim's face. "That's not the worst that could happen."

Carri stiffened. Despite her setting Kim up, she was still her best friend and like a sister and she didn't want to see anything bad happen to her. "What happened?" she questioned walking over and putting a hand on Kim's arm. "Did Tommy do something? I don't care how much stronger he is I'll still go kick his ass." she assured her. No matter what she wouldn't let Tommy get away with hurting her.

"We had sex." Kim replied as the tears started to fall

"Shit." Carri said with feeling as she gave her friend a hug. That definitely wasn't on the night's agenda. He was supposed to talk to her and romance her, see if he could win her back. Not screw her.

Kim let Carri give her a hug. She really couldn't be mad at her, she thought she was doing her a favor. After all as Tommy reminded her the previous night, she did still love him. "I can't believe I cheated on Josh. I don't know what to do. I love Josh but Tommy..."

As Kim's voice trailed off Carri could feel the guilt settling in. She didn't realize how much Kim cared about her brother. She thought it was just a fling, and if she could push Tommy back into her life she'd forget about Josh and go back to him. "I'm sorry." she said softly

Kim stood straight up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I've got a lot to think about." she said avoiding eye contact with Carri as she walked into her room and shut the door. She glanced at her bed where she first made love to Josh and thought about how wonderful that was. That was all it took for her to start bawling as she collapsed on the bed.

She had never been that confused in her life. She had a perfectly good relationship with Josh, a man who in the last few months she had grown to love. The moments that she had spent with him here and in New York were wonderful. They both loved each other and were in this amazing relationship together and she couldn't be happier.

Then there was Tommy. She loved him too, only it was different from what she and Josh had. She had a history with Tommy. There was so much between them over the last thirteen years that it was hard to compare the two relationships. She had wanted Tommy back when she first came home and her exboyfriend waited until she was settled with someone else to feel the same way.

She didn't know what to do. She and Tommy had two chances and neither ended well. Technically both break ups were her fault. Did that mean she didn't love him as much as she thought? She wasn't sure. She was worried about giving Tommy another chance for fear of ending up right back where she was now, only without Tommy or Josh.

Kim didn't try to stop the tears that were streaming down her face as she laid on the bed. No matter how hard it was going to be, she was going to have to come up with a decision.

* * *

Several hours later Carri was sitting in her office finishing up the work she had to do for her show. She sent out all the emails before standing and stretching. She didn't know what was going on, but Kim had yet to come out of the bedroom. She never meant for this to happen, she thought it would be pretty cut and dry. Either Kim wanted Josh or Tommy but not both. At least Kim knew that Tommy still had feelings for her, although Carri wished he wouldn't have told her through sex. That just made Kim's situation more complicated now that she's cheated on Josh.

Carri sighed as she glanced at the clock. She still had time to get to the Youth Center and visit like she promised. Plus she felt like she owed Tommy a talking to, she had to figure out what went wrong.

She grabbed her keys and walked over to stand in front of Kim's door. She wanted to knock and tell her that she was leaving, tell her that if she needed to talk not to hesitate to call. A few seconds of standing there and she decided not to, that it was best to leave Kim alone for the moment.

On the other side of the door Kim found herself still laying on the bed. She had stopped crying and had spent most of the afternoon thinking about what she wanted to do. So many scenarios had gone through her head. She wasn't sure if she liked the outcome of any of them but she had to pick one.

She sat straight up and reached for the phone. After weighing all the pros and cons she had finally made a decision. Hands shaking she flipped through the contact list until she came across Josh's name. She took a deep breath before hitting the send button and pulling the phone to her ear.

The rings seemed to come slowly and last forever. It felt like hours before anyone answered on the other end. "Hey." Josh said as he picked up

"Hey." Kim said softly. She wanted to sound less sad but she was afraid to try. She was afraid she'd start bawling all over again and she wanted to try and stay strong over the phone.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked quickly picking up on the tone of her voice

The only way to do this was just to come right out and say it. She took a deep breath before speaking. "I called... I wanted to tell you that I cheated. That I slept with someone else. But I'm sorry and I was hoping that you'd forgive me and that we'd move on."

"It's ok." Josh said surprising Kim

She felt her heart sink. Not only had she cheated but she'd cheated on an incredibly wonderful man.

"As long as we're confessing, I slept with someone I met when I got back from Angel Grove." Josh told her. He hadn't wanted to, he really loved Kim. But he wasn't sure about their relationship. And when Samantha, the newest addition to his show arrived on set all he could think about was a hot steamy one night stand with her. And that's all it was, that was all either wanted. He had Kim and she had a boyfriend of her own.

"Oh." Kim said suddenly. That changed everything. She cheated with Tommy, they had a history, she still loved him. Josh had an affair with someone he just met. Not that she was any better than him, but at least she had a valid reason.

"I guess everyone was right. It's hard to have a long distance relationship with a ranger." Josh pointed out. Not that he didn't enjoy it but he hated having to think about all the things that could be going on in Angel Grove while he was in New York.

"Yeah." Kim agreed absentmindedly. She didn't know who had told him that but he was right. She had heard of all the troubles of non rangers trying to date rangers. "So now what?"

"We can keep dating." Josh said

The lack of emotion in the statement bothered Kim. And there was something that had been nagging at her since he confessed his affair. "Are you sorry about sleeping with someone else?"

"Yeah." he said. Although it was worth it and the sex had been awesome. Besides it was just that, sex. Kim was the one he was in love with.

Kim let out a long sigh. She still cared deeply for Josh. He spoiled her and the sex was great but she couldn't help but wonder if there was more there. She longed to have a deep connection with someone and the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't help but wonder if Josh was it. They had a good relationship especially on the physical side, but was that all of it? Not to mention that long distance relationships were hard and they obviously couldn't keep theirs up without being swayed. "Maybe we should end it. Before we both get our heads turned again by someone else." Kim was worried about Tommy, there was no way she could have a serious relationship with Josh when every bit of her ached for the red ranger. Not to mention she wasn't sure that Josh wouldn't cheat again.

Josh thought about it for a moment. "Maybe you're right." he agreed. He loved Kim but he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't jump into bed with the next gorgeous actress that crossed his path. Things just weren't as serious with Kim as he thought they were. The sex was great and she was a fabulous person, but that wasn't enough to keep him in a monogamous relationship. They needed more than just the surface stuff and he wasn't sure they had it. "We can still be friends right?"

"Absolutely." Kim replied, relieved that this conversation was turning out ok. And she was glad they weren't going to hate each other because he was still Carri's brother which meant she was still going to see him. "So... I guess I'll talk to you later then?" she questioned not sure where else to go with the conversation

"Yeah. Later." Josh agreed hanging up the phone

Kim let out a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone as well. At least that was done and over with. Now she had to figure out what she was going to do with Tommy.

* * *

Carri wondered into the Youth Center and found a seat, flashing Rocky a smile and giving the boys a wave as she sat. They were surrounded by children who were all in awe of what they were saying as they demonstrated some things.

She tried to sit patiently as she waited for the seminar to be over. There was a lot to discuss and she wanted to discuss it sooner rather than later. Carri watched as the boys continued on thinking about everything that had progressed. Finally they finished, and after talking to the kids and parents they made their way over toward her.

"Hey." Rocky greeted giving her a kiss. "You missed most of the good stuff."

She shrugged in reply. "Work took longer than I thought." she said as she paused to glare at Tommy.

Carri didn't let up and he looked at her strangely. "What? Did I do something?"

She almost didn't restrain herself as she whopped him on the shoulder. He put a hand to his stinging skin and made a face at her as she spoke. "You slept with Kim. I can't believe you did that. What happened to we'll just talk and work it out."

"What?" Jason questioned but was drowned out by Tommy

"I didn't mean for it to happen." Tommy replied quickly defending himself. "But it's not like we both didn't want it."

Carri crossed her arms over her chest. "We'll I hope you're satisfied. Kim's been locked up in her room crying ever since she came home this morning. She loves you both Tommy, she doesn't know what to do."

Tommy sighed. He never meant to upset Kim. But that certainly would explain why she left so abruptly that morning. "I should go talk to her. Straighten this whole thing out."

"Yeah you better." Jason replied glaring at him. He wanted Tommy and Kim to work out, but he didn't want Tommy to hurt her. As close as he and Tommy were, if Tommy didn't handle this situation with Kim he was going to have to deal with him.

"I'm going to go over to the house. I'll see you guys later." he said as he quickly turned and took off

"How the hell did that happen?" Jason questioned once Tommy had left the building

"I don't know. I think we screwed up. I screwed up." Carri said sighing heavily

Rocky put an arm around her to try and make her feel better. "No matter how much she cares about Josh, she had to find out that Tommy still loves her. It was the right thing to do, she wanted him back a long time ago." They probably could've gone about it better, but now wasn't the time to point that out.

"I suppose." she said with a shrug

"I can't believe they spent the night together." Jason said shaking his head. When Carri left him that message he just assumed Kim was working things out with Tommy and would be home later. Of course that did make for some added drama but he'd have to wait and see how it all turned out.

"I can't believe Kim let herself give in. She must've noticed Tommy more than we thought." Carri replied. It gave her some small sense of doing the right thing. At least she was aware that Tommy was around and was willing to give him a second look. Kim was still upset and it was still yet to be determined how the whole thing was going to turn out though and that caused the guilt to return.

There was silence for a moment before Rocky spoke. "Why don't you let me get changed and showered then maybe we can take a walk down the beach." he suggested. He knew what could get Carri's mind off of things. The beach was always a good choice when she was bothered by something.

"Sure." she replied giving him a smile. He gave her another kiss before walking back into the locker room. She turned and looked over at Jason once he was gone. "So what are you doing this afternoon?"

"I'm going to work on some of my edits." he replied

"Are you almost finished?" she asked. She was excited that her friend had a new book in the works. She was hoping that it would be a success for him. She was sure it would be, although she had no clue what the book was about. It was supposed to be top secret, noone was allowed to find out until it was published.

"Yup. I should have it into my publisher by Friday." he said with a sense of pride in his voice. He glanced down at the time before looking back over at Carri. "Speaking of the book, if I sit here and hang with you I'm never going to get any work done."

Carri laughed. She certainly knew that feeling. "Alright. I'll call you if I hear anything."

"Sounds good." he replied as he gathered his things and stood

Carri said goodbye then watched him leave then sat patiently waiting for Rocky to return so that they could go for a walk down the beach.

* * *

Tommy pulled up in the driveway of Carri's home almost forty-five minutes after he left the Youth Center. He had gone home to shower and change so that he could look his best for Kim. He wanted to apologize, to let her know that if she loved Josh that much he wouldn't stand in her way. As much as he wanted to be with her, the most important thing was that he wanted to see her happy.

He climbed out of his jeep and walked up to the door, reaching up to ring the bell. A few seconds later Kim answered the door, flashing him a quick smile. "Hey."

"Hey." he replied smiling back. "Can we talk?" he asked

"Sure." she said moving to let him in. Kim walked ahead of him and went to sit on the couch. She listened as he shut the door behind him then made his way into the livingroom.

Tommy sat down on the recliner making a point to stay away from Kim. He wanted to talk to her and as much as he enjoyed the sex, he didn't want a repeat of the previous night. "I'm sorry." he started briefly making eye contact with her. "I didn't intend for that to happen last night. I wanted to tell you how I felt. But you're with Josh and if you want to stay with him I'll understand."

There was silence as Kim wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. Finally she decided on where to start. "I broke up with Josh."

"Really?" Tommy questioned trying his hardest not to let his excitement show. "Why?"

"He had an affair." she said simply. "It made me realize that maybe we didn't have a tight relationship. I still care about him but he's not a man I could see myself spending the rest of my life with."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Tommy replied although he really wasn't. More silence settled over the two as neither knew where to proceed from there. Finally Tommy just asked the question that had been floating around his mind. "Where does that leave us?"

Kim let out a long sigh and Tommy wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "I'm still upset about you guys tricking me into going up there."

"We're all sorry about that." Tommy started trying to figure out the right words to say next

"I know. Noone wanted to hurt me. The sex was... a moment of passion between both of us." she said trying to think about how to carefully phrase her words. "Neither meant for that to happen but it did. It reminded me that I still have strong feelings for you. Real feelings, deeper than just a physical connection." After she hung up with Josh she spent a lot of time thinking about Tommy. Their closeness led to sex but the more she thought about it, the more she thought about how that wasn't all their relationship was. They had a real connection when they were young, a strong bond that formed well before they ever had a physical relationship. That bond with Tommy was always there, through his relationship with Kat and her four years in space. That was something numerous rangers had pointed out. She wanted that, she longed for that part of her relationship with Tommy just as much as she longed for the rest of it.

"Do you think we could start over?" Tommy questioned trying not to let her see that his nerves were getting the best of him. He had been the leader of multiple teams of rangers, yet here he was allowing this situation with Kim to get the best of him.

Kim thought for a moment before replying. "I'd like that." she said giving him a smile

"Maybe we could go on a date. Say Thursday night." Tommy suggested

"Make it Friday and you have a deal." Kim replied. She had so many deadlines to meet at work she had a feeling every night would be a late night. Having a date with Tommy on Friday night would definitely give her something to look forward to.

"Ok. Friday night. I'll pick you up around seven?" Tommy said practically glowing at the thought of a date with Kim

Kim tried to act like a diplomatic red instead of an excited schoolgirl. "Seven it is." she replied giving him a smile. It took every ounce of her body not to grab Tommy and head right back to the bedroom. But if they were going to really start over they were going to have to cool it on the physical side for a while.

"Great. Then I'll see you then." Tommy replied admiring her composure. He decided to mirror her efforts and if she was going to stay calm about the prospect of another chance he would too.

Kim stood and walked over to Tommy, who stood as well. "I'm glad we could work this out." she said smiling at him

"Me too." he replied

"I have some stuff I have to get done." she lied. A lot had gone on in the last twenty-four hours and she just wanted some time to sit peacefully and wrap her mind around it all. Besides she had a feeling she'd spend the rest of the day answering to the other rangers.

"Not a problem. I'll talk to you later?" he questioned hoping that the answer was yes

"Of course." she replied leaning up to give him a quick kiss

Tommy smiled and walked to the door with Kim close behind him. He said goodbye and exited while Kim shut the door and locked it. They both walked away with smiles on their faces, letting the excitement of another chance settle in.

* * *

Carri pulled into her driveway and noticed first that there was no black jeep parked there. She quickly opened the garage door and saw that Kim's car was still there. She wasn't quite sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. As she jumped out of the car she hit the button to shut the garage door and headed inside. Kim's bedroom door was still shut and Carri sighed as she walked out into the livingroom. She glanced around and almost missed Kim sitting out on the back porch talking on the phone. That had to be somewhat of a good sign, or at least she thought it did.

Walking over to the patio door she slid it back and stepped outside, flashing Kim a wave. Kim smiled and waved back before going back to her phone conversation. "Anyway Aisha I'll talk to you later." she said. The conversation on the other end continued before Kim said goodbye and hung up. Aisha had called shortly after Tommy left and Kim filled her in on everything. The former yellow ranger was thrilled to see Tommy and Kim an item again.

"So what's up?" Carri questioned as she sat down at the table next to Kim

"Tommy came by." Kim said simply. She was pretty sure Carri knew that already and was wondering how it went but she figured she'd make her squirm.

"Oh? What happened?" She couldn't wait much longer to find out she felt like she was about to bust.

"Well..." Kim started letting her voice trail off. She decided to backtrack a bit before getting to the Tommy part. "You know after you left I called Josh. I wanted to apologize. To fix things."

"Oh." she said again her voice sounding deflated

"Turned out I wasn't the only one who slept with someone else." Kim informed her

"What?" Carri asked more than a little pissed. She had kind of expected it, but at the same time she didn't want her brother to cheat on Kim. Kim did cheat as well, but she highly doubted that her brother had slept with an ex-girlfriend that he still had feelings for. He had probably chosen the next pretty thing that crossed his path.

"It's ok." Kim assured her. Her friend looked like she was ready to fly to New York and rip her brothers head off. "We talked about it. I think our relationship was more sex than a real connection. Don't get me wrong, the sex was great, but I want someone who I can have a well rounded relationship with. Who knows me on more levels than one. That's why we broke up."

"You did?" Carri questioned trying not to burst with excitement upon hearing that. Now she wouldn't have to be told about Kim and her brother's sex life anymore.

"Yeah. It's strange, I think he's been thinking about it for a while now. He said everyone said it's hard to date a ranger long distance." Kim asked. That comment still bugged her and she had a feeling her friend knew a bit about it.

Carri glanced down at the floor for a moment thinking of how to reply before glancing back up at Kim. "Yeah I may have helped push that point a bit. I don't think I was the only one, but I may have given him that impression." she confessed as Kim glared at her. "Honestly I hated thinking of you with my brother like that. And Tommy said he still loved you so I figured if I could get Josh to back off maybe you and Tommy would still have a chance."

Kim nodded. Carri always pretended to be happy for her but she could tell by the way she reacted that Carri was never thrilled with the fact that she had been in a relationship with her brother. "You shouldn't have interfered." Kim said as Carri let out a long heavy sigh. "But I'm glad you did. Tommy and I are going out on a date on Friday."

"Kim that's great!" Carri exclaimed. She was thrilled that no matter how they got there, Tommy and Kim were getting their chance.

"It worked out. But in the future, tell me if you don't like someone I'm dating. Don't sneak around my back. You're like my sister, I wouldn't be mad at you." Kim promised

"So you're saying that you would've been ok if I had thrown a fit about the fact that my almost sister and brother were sleeping together?" Carri asked for clarification purposes.

"Oh no I would've told you to shut up and that I was happy." Kim said smiling. Both girls giggled. "But in the end our friendship is more important than that relationship and I would have broke up with him." she said sincerely

Carri smiled and nodded. It was moments like these that reminded her why she was lucky to have Kim as a best friend. The girls had been through a lot together over the years and would do almost anything for each other. "Thanks." she said simply as she leaned over to give Kim a hug

The girls separated and Kim smiled at her. "So now what?"

"I think you need to come tan with me." Carri said flashing her a smile back. She had just been out on the beach and it was nice weather for laying out there and tanning. "You're getting on the pasty side and you have a date on Friday. We need to get you some color."

Kim laughed at her friend's comment. "Alright let's go tan then." she said agreeing to soak up the sun. The two girls got up from the table and headed back into the house to get changed into their swimsuits. Kim couldn't help but wear a smile on her face as she walked around the house. Work was going good, she was going tanning with Carri, Callisto and Rhianna had been quiet lately and she had a date with Tommy on Friday. Life just couldn't get any better.


	11. The Tides Are Turning

**Disclaimer:** Ranger characters still belong to Disney. My characters still belong to me. And characters such as Teeg belong to KSuzie. As well as a line or two of hers that I borrowed :)  
**Author's Note:** I did get one chapter of something done on time :) Hopefully the sequel to Vegas will be out tomorrow if not it may be a little over a week before I can get to it with the holiday next week.  
**Spoiler Alert** I know a lot of you are following KSuzie's "The Coin Series". Some of the events that take place here reference some of the events that will take place in her next chapter. I promise there are no spoilers to the end of her series. And some things may not make any sense until her chapter 19 comes out. So if you're not reading her story and are totally confused, feel free to send me an email and I'll be happy to explain everything. And even if you are reading it and are confused I can help you out too :)  
Anyways, here's chapter 11. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"The Tides Are Turning"

Carri snapped her cell phone shut and set it down on her desk before going to rub her temples. Tonight they were having a huge party at a club for her friends and coworkers celebrating the premiere of her new show. Making sure everything was going to get done for that was turning out to be a larger task than expected and it was giving her quite a headache.

She walked back into the bathroom and grabbed some aspirin before heading out into the kitchen for a glass of water. Quickly she tossed back her pills then leaned against the counter while she finished her drink. As she stood there, the side door opened and Kim walked through with her hands full of grocery bags.

Carri went to help grab bags from her friend and get them over to the table. She started pulling food out and setting it aside so they could put it away. To her surprise she pulled out a tabloid magazine. "I didn't know you were into this crap." she said with a smile

Kim quickly jerked it out of her hands and made a face. "I'm not." she said defensively. "I mean, you know, not really."

"Then why waste your money?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow

Kim sighed. She had been standing in the checkout line mindlessly flipping through the tabloid just to pass the time when she came across something that triggered old memories. She decided to bring the magazine home and was going to ask Carri's opinion. She figured if she was going to ask anyway, she might as well do it now. She flipped the magazine open and passed it to Carri who looked at the article in question. The title read "Sex, Drugs and Hollywood Scandal" and had images of Hollywood men with various women. Her brother was one of the men featured with several different women.

"You guys broke up remember." she pointed out as she counted up the number of women in the photos. It didn't surprise her that her brother would wiggle his way into a tabloid article like this. She seriously doubted he was as big of an asshole as the article was going to make him sound, but there was always some level of truth in the stories. "Besides if it makes you feel any better I'm sure some of these images are old. I doubt he's had that many different dates since you guys split."

"I wanted you to see it. I've been wanting to ask for a while if you think your brother is that party boy." Kim asked anxiously awaiting the answer

"Honestly? Yeah he pretty much is. But seriously Kim why do you care? You don't have any regrets do you?" Carri asked. She hoped that she didn't. As far as she could tell Kim's three weeks dating Tommy have been the most blissful three weeks that she'd had in a long time.

"No absolutely not." Kim assured her. Truthfully at times she felt uncertainty over the way things went down. Even though Josh had cheated, she had also slept with someone else while she was in a committed relationship. That wasn't like her at all. Sometimes she found herself missing spending time with him and wondering what he was up to. They were still friends and she still cared about him. Not to mention it wasn't like she fell out of love with him. She just didn't see things working out. Part of the reason that she picked the tabloid to thumb through in the first place was to see if she could see what he had been up to.

Of course she'd never confess any of that to Carri. Besides it wasn't like things weren't working out with Tommy. She had no complaints about dating him, no regrets about choosing him over Josh. Tommy made her feel whole again, and now more than ever she felt as though she was destined to be with him. She tried to shake off the thoughts of the two men as she went to ask Carri the question that had been bothering her. "It's just, well, when we were together I saw an article that had an image of us together beside an image of him with some wannabe actress. He swore that was an old picture but do you think..." Kim let her voice trail off. That was one fact that was sitting in the back of her head when she broke up with him.

"Do I think he cheated on you more than once?" Carri asked Kim's question for her. Truthfully she wouldn't put it past him. She was angry with him for admitting to sleeping with someone else when he was supposed to love Kim but she would've been surprised if that wasn't the first time. She reamed him about it over the phone and he just apologized but he never tried to push it as an accident or a one time thing. "Honestly I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised."

Kim nodded her head. It really didn't matter but that was one fact that had been bugging her for a long time. Carri's response just gave her more of a reason to be happy that she had ended it with Josh and was back with Tommy now. She sighed and shook her head before quickly switching topics. "So how are things going with the party tonight?"

It was Carri's turn to sigh. "I have been on the phone all day trying to make sure everything is right. It's the premiere party, I want it to go off without a hitch."

"How did it all fall to you anyway?" Kim questioned. She was under the assumption that she had an assistant and other people under her that were more than qualified to take care of the event coordinating.

"Noone else could agree on what we should do. I knew what I wanted and since it's my show and my party I figured I might as well do it myself to make sure it gets done like I want." Carri explained flashing her a smile. "Besides if you leave it up to five hundred different people who knows what you're going to get."

Kim narrowed her eyes and smiled at her. Five hundred was quite an exaggeration as she had only a fraction of that even working for her. "Well I wouldn't stress out over it. It's not worth it. And I'm sure it's going to be fine."

"It had better be." Carri replied as her phone went off. She glanced at the caller ID and debated on whether to answer it or throw the cell across the room out of frustration. Finally she crossed her arms and answered with a forceful "what?".

Kim tried not to let her friend see her amusement as she listened to her end of the conversation. It was a lot of Carri trying not to explode as she pointed out that the particular question had been answered and was not open for debate, as she had apparently told the caller multiple times before. She continued to put the groceries away as Carri took another call before hanging the phone up and tossing it on the table out of frustration.

"I'm going to need a lot more aspirin." she grumbled as she went to help Kim with the groceries

"Don't worry. We are going to go tonight and we are going to have a blast and it's going to all be worth it." Kim assured her smiling at her

"It had better be." Carri said smiling back after a moment as she continued to help Kim put things away.

* * *

Later that evening Jason found himself driving his SUV to pick up his date for Carri's party. He smiled to himself as he thought about his date. Michelle Montgomery. One of the nicest girls he'd met in a long time. She fit well with him. Well as well as she could at the moment, he had yet to have to make up a lame excuse while taking off to save the world in front of her. But they shared a lot of the same interests and they got along well.

This was only their fifth date. This was a big one though, this was the one where he was going to introduce her to the rest of his friends. And although he wasn't worried about Tommy and Rocky not liking her, he was worrying about Kim and Carri's opinion. They were like his sisters, and as sisters they would look at her with a critical eye to make sure that she was worthy of him. He appreciated them looking out for him, but he hoped that they wouldn't find one hundred things wrong with Michelle. He really liked her and really hoped that she would easily make friends with his ranger family.

It was fate that brought the two together. He still couldn't believe his luck. They had met by chance at Jason's publisher's office two weeks ago. He had just dropped off the finalized copy of his novel and headed down the hall and to the elevator. When he arrived back in the main lobby, he received a cell phone call. He searched his pockets for his phone while he walked and never saw Michelle until he ran into her, knocking her papers everywhere.

He declined to answer the call and he immediately rushed to help her pick up her things. She was gorgeous and there was an obvious spark there so he didn't hesitate to ask her out. The rest, as they say, was history.

Of course running into Michelle wasn't the only good thing that happened that morning. He got a call from his publisher later that same evening. Much to his surprise, he had finished reading the book already. He absolutely loved it, telling Jason that it was probably his best work yet. The plan was to rush it into production to get it out as soon as possible.

Jason was quite proud of that, especially considering parts of the book had received massive rewrites in the four days between Tommy and Kim's reunion and his turning the book in. Them getting back together had overflowed him with ideas for a romance aspect of his novel. His greatest science fiction work ever had a bit of everything in the story, and he owed a lot of that to his friends. The main villain of the new series was going to be based on Callisto, and he planned on using a lot of what happened to them when they were younger as well as stories Carri and Kim told him to move the plot along. This was the first time that he gave his heros a serious love life, which according to his publisher made the book quite compelling.

He was anxious for it to hit the shelves. He wanted to know how the public was going to view it. He poured a lot into the book to make it just the way he wanted it. He wanted it to be that book, the book that made him. Only time would tell, but it would drive him crazy sitting around and waiting until then.

Jason pulled into Michelle's apartment complex and tried to push the thoughts of the potential success or failure of his book out of his mind. Tonight was the night to stand by Carri as she worried about her own success or failure, all the while enjoying another wonderful date with a wonderful woman.

* * *

Billy and Trini pulled into the small parking lot of a club that was located on the outskirts of Angel Grove. This was the location that Carri had chosen to host the nights party. It looked like an amazing place from the outside. It was a bit of a drive from their San Francisco home, but they both agreed that it would be worth it to go. Aside from ranger related functions, neither had seen much of their friends in a long time.

Billy got out of the car and went around to the passengers side to open the door for his wife. "Are you ready to party?" he asked smiling at her

"Absolutely." Trini replied back flashing her husband a smile. She was thrilled to attend Carri's premiere party. She had never been to a Hollywood function, and although there weren't any A-list stars there it was still a big deal to her.

Billy led her to the club where a small crowd was gathering outside whining about being let in to see what was going on. Billy chuckled to himself. Ausus Productions had rented out the entire club and unless you were on the invite list you weren't getting in. They headed toward the front of a crowd, where a man who looked like the poster child for steroids was standing there holding a clipboard.

"Names." he said sternly glancing them both over

"Billy and Trini Cranston." Billy replied with confidence. Being the head of his lab and a company board member, he had gotten to go to some pretty exclusive events. But nothing quite like this. He had never been on an invite only list and it was kind of neat.

The man thumbed down his list and paused briefly when he came across the two people in question. He put checkmarks by their name then stepped aside, gesturing for them to enter. "Have a good evening." he said

"Thank you." Trini replied as Billy led them past the man who immediately went back to guarding the door

As they walked into the main room of the club the scene took their breath away. The place was huge, and was decked out in celebration of the premier. In the center along the wall was a giant flat screen television. Billy didn't know that you could even find a tv that big, but apparently Carri had rented one.

They looked around and saw all the people who were affiliated with the show who were filing in. There weren't that many non-show people there, only Carri's friends. Each of her employees were allowed to bring one person with them because if she let everyone go wild the building would easily violate the fire safety code. Her employees brought one person each, and she brought all her friends.

Ausus Productions was paying to have the event catered, complete with non-alcoholic beverages. Carri had declined the open bar, figuring it would be best not to encourage her employees to get plastered then drive home. There was a bar in the club where people could buy their own drinks. Ausus Productions was covering her bar tab, and she had extended it to include her close circle of friends. She doubted they would drink that much, but she wanted to make sure they got something if they wanted it.

As Billy and Trini walked by the huge food table they caught a glimpse of their friends. They were more than excited to go talk to them. Billy hadn't even seen them as rangers much lately. It had been a little more than two weeks since the alternate Kim had banished Callisto and there had been no word from the goddess since. Kim said it would take her a while to find her way back, and Billy was hoping that the peace would last a little longer. This had been the quietest two weeks they had seen since Callisto and Rhianna attacked Earth the first time.

Billy's thoughts shifted to the fact that he hadn't even been in the Command Chamber much lately. He had done all the work that he could, and until the bad guys made the next move he had no way of knowing where to go from there.

Trini pulled him out of his thoughts as she squeezed on his arm when they caught up to their friends. "Hey guys." Trini greeted enthusiastically

"Hey!" Kim replied quickly giving an old friend a hug. "How are you guys doing?"

"We're good." Trini said looking over the foursome. "Where's Jason?"

"Not here yet." Kim said giving her a mischievous smile. "He had to go pick up his date."

"Oh." Trini said playfully raising an eyebrow before she and Kim giggled like school girls. Here they were at a party with most of the original rangers and Jason was bringing a date... well it almost made her feel like high school all over again. She missed those times. When life wasn't all work, work, work and she actually got to hang out with her friends. She let out a sigh and Kim flashed her a smile, and she immediately smiled back.

"So are you guys ready to see this? I hope it doesn't suck." Carri said a sudden wave of nerves rushing over her. She didn't know what she was more nervous about, the party going off well or the show. She had done what felt like a million news broadcasts and none of them sucked. But this was different. This was a television show, her television show, and the whole world would be watching. The last thing she wanted to do was suck.

Rocky put what he hoped was a reassuring arm around her. "It's not going to suck. It's going to be fabulous."

"And if it does suck we'll all just get plastered and party so the night's not a total waste." Tommy joked

Kim shot him a cruel look as Carri rolled her eyes. "Yeah and that makes me feel a lot better." she said heavy on the sarcasm as Tommy put his arms around Kim and pulled her into him

Tommy laughed at her. Billy chuckled as well before speaking. "Don't worry it's going to be fine and everyone is going to have a great time."

"Right." Carri agreed giving a somewhat smile. "Think positive." she added. And hopefully the night wouldn't be a disaster. Carri took a deep breath and looked around the room. Soon she would either have a career or it would be over.

* * *

As the small group of former and present rangers were getting excited and nervous about the upcoming premiere, the final member of the team came strolling through the door with his girlfriend by his side. Jason put a hand on her back and gently led her down the stairs and toward the main room of the club.

"This is amazing." Michelle said as she looked around. "Thank you so much for bringing me." Being at the television premiere party blew her away. Jason assured her there wasn't going to be any huge celebrities attending the party. But then again here she was with her boyfriend, whose best friend was getting ready to air her first show on a major cable network. That was celebrity enough for her.

"I'm just glad you could make it." Jason replied as they walked into the main room. And he truly was. He couldn't wait to share her with everyone else. He was still holding his breath until he could hear the girls reactions, but he was convinced that they would like her. He wasn't expecting them to all become best friends, but they would at least find her worthy of him.

They headed in to the main room and looked around. Michelle was amazed by what the production company did. When she was done looking around she turned to her boyfriend. "Where are your friends?"

Jason didn't reply as he was just wondering that himself. Finally he spotted them. "There." he said pointing with one hand and grabbing her with the other. He led her through the crowed until he finally made his way to his group of friends. "Hey guys." Jason greeted

The rangers smiled and said hello to him before staring over at his girlfriend. "I'd like you all to meet my girlfriend, Michelle Montgomery." Jason said quickly to avoid the awkward looks from everyone. "And Michelle these are my friends, Billy, Trini, Carri, Rocky, Kim and Tommy."

"Nice to meet you all." Michelle said as everyone shook her hand and said hello

As Carri shook her hand she looked at her oddly. The woman standing in front of her looked so familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The odd look did not escape Michelle as she made a quick glance toward her boyfriend. They both hand the same thought, the worry that they didn't like Michelle already.

"So how did you guys meet?" Kim asked trying to get the conversation rolling and figure out a little bit about Michelle at the same time.

"He literally ran me over at the building where I work." Michelle said smiling at the memory. "We both were walking through the lobby. He was going down from the doctor's and I was going up to the law firm."

Jason flashed everyone a smile and nodded as Michelle started telling the story. He thought about how he would tell Kim and Carri privately that he had met his publisher in his office on the fourth floor, which was a floor above the lawyer's office and two floors below the doctor. He told Michelle he had been at the doctor that day as he never told anyone that he was a novelist only an online investor. If he ever found the one, he'd eventually let her know the second biggest secret of his life.

Jason's thoughts quickly shifted gears as he moved on to tell the rest of the story. "I got a call and I couldn't find my phone. I was looking through my pockets for it and the next thing I knew her papers were flying everywhere."

"Jason helped me pick everything up then he asked me out. I couldn't help but say yes. He was so adorable." Michelle finished giving that giddy school girl smile

"Aw." Carri said flashing her a quick smile. She didn't care much about her cutsie love at first sight angle. She wanted to know everything there was to know about Michelle. Especially since she still thought she knew her from somewhere.

"So do you work for the law firm?" Kim asked smiling at Michelle and continuing asking question

"Yes I do." Michelle said flashing them a smile. "I'm a lawyer. I handle a lot of high end clients." Usually that was enough information to impress a date and his friends. It was hard to be accepted into someone's circle, but it usually helped if they thought you were important.

Of course what she didn't know was that she was facing a group of rangers, several of whom were VIP's themselves. "Me too." Trini said to let her know that they were both of equal status. "I work for the EPA." Trini spent her first three years of college taking online classes while working in Switzerland. Through promoting world peace she also found other aspects of the world she cared about. When she came home to finish school she decided wanted to get into law and she wanted to help the world by helping the environment, and that was the best way she knew how to do it.

"You do?" Michelle said flashing her a smile. That didn't work as well as she thought. Although maybe it would be best for her as she did fit in with his friends. "That's great."

"Carri!" a female voice called from across the crowded room

Carri sighed. She'd recognize that heavily accented voice anywhere. She turned to her friends and smiled. "I'll be back." she said as she went to greet her visitor

Inviting her cousin had not been Carri's idea, it had been her fathers. He was basically the one who invited her, under the assumption that she was family and she should be there. Carri didn't want to cause drama by uninviting her, and she didn't want to tell her father no since he was the reason she was there. So she left it be and hoped that she could just avoid Kat for most of the night. Besides she was still her cousin and despite their differences Carri did still love her, so it was cool that she wanted to show up and support her.

"Hello." Carri said hoping to make the pleasantries quick so she could get back to socializing with her friends

"Hey." Kat replied surprising her with a hug

Carri stepped back startled for a moment as Kat hugged her then let her go. She looked around her cousin and noticed that she was all alone. "Where's Chris?" she asked. Not that she actually wanted to see the man but she expected him to be Kat's date for the evening.

"Oh he couldn't make it." Kat said doing her best to flash a smile

"That's to bad." Carri lied

Kat shrugged. "Yeah. You know. Work calls."

As Kat looked around the room Carri could tell she was upset about something. She figured it had to do with the fact that Chris had to work the night of her party and couldn't make it. Kat used to always blab on about her hanging out with Chris more. For a half a second she thought about asking Kat why she was upset but decided not to push the issue. If it was something she wanted to talk about, she'd let her know.

"So the buffet is over there." Carri said as she gestured to the food. "There's a bar over there but I'm sure you won't want that. The show is going to start soon so if you need anything let me know."

Carri turned to walk away when Kat stopped her. "Wait." Kat urged. She kept thinking about asking her cousin to hang out with her. She wanted to reconcile but she wasn't sure where to start. They had been at such odds lately and she didn't like it. Once upon a time they had been best friends and Kat missed that. The more she thought about it the more she thought a little shopping would do the trick. "I know you've got a lot to do tonight so you can't hang around, but I was thinking tomorrow morning we could hang out. I need some help picking out stuff for the baby and you have a good eye for what's stylish."

Carri let out a long sigh. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the morning ogling over baby stuff. She was inclined to say no chance in hell, but the more she thought about it the more she thought how it would make a lot of people happy if she would try to play nice with Kat. Besides as long as Kat didn't discuss her wedding, it might not be totally awful. "Sure. We'll go."

Kat smiled at her cousin. She was so thrilled to hear that. She had so much that she wanted to talk to her about and she couldn't wait to get the opportunity to do it. "Great. I'll call you around eight-thirty and we can figure out a place to meet."

"Great." Carri said as she turned to walk away again hoping that Kat wouldn't stop her this time. She shook her head as she walked. She wasn't completely sure what she had gotten herself into. She slowly headed back to the spot where her friends once were to find that Kim was the only one still there. "Where did everyone go?"

"Your man went with Trini and Billy to the buffet. Tommy went for a beer. And Jason and Michelle went off to look around." Kim explained quickly. She had stayed behind because she wanted to chat with Carri after everyone else left.

"So did I miss anything? Like do we know any more about Jase's girlfriend?" Carri asked raising an eyebrow

Kim shrugged. "Not really. We asked a few general questions, she tried to give us answers she thought we wanted to hear. I think she's nervous. I think she wants to impress us so we'll like her."

"Are we that hard to get along with?" Carri asked with a grin

"As long as you're not out for world domination, we're cool." Kim joked in reply. "So what do you think about Michelle?" she asked. Kim wanted to see what her friend thought and if she agreed with her. She was sure Jason was going to ask their opinion as well.

"I donno. She seems nice enough. I just keep getting the feeling that I know her from somewhere." Carri said pausing to think for a few minutes. That girl was so familiar. Suddenly it hit her. How she knew Michelle Montgomery. "Oh... my... god..." Carri said her eyes getting wide

"What?" Kim questioned. She couldn't imagine what she knew about Michelle that could be that jaw dropping.

"Michelle... is not Michelle... I mean she is now... but oh shit..." Carri said as everything was clicking together

"Carri seriously that is not explaining anything." Kim said making a face and crossing her arms over her chest

"We used to play baseball together." Carri said simply

"I thought you were the only girl on the team." Kim said tilting her head and looking at her friend curiously

Carri nodded as she replied. "I was."

"Oh shit." Kim said as this time her eyes got wide. "Are you sure? I mean absolutely sure?"

"Well I heard he was going to do it. And that girl looks a lot like him. Or at least what a woman him would look like." Carri said still trying to grasp what was going on

Kim let out some unintelligent babble as she freaked out for a moment. "We have to tell Jason." she said once she finally calmed down

"Tell Jason what?" Rocky asked as he walked up behind the girls, causing them both to jump

"Take a good look at Michelle." Carri said grabbing his arm and pulling him closer, pointing him toward the area were the duo stood off in the distance. "And tell me that's not Michael Montgomery."

Rocky started at her for a moment. "Shit." he said simply once he realized his girlfriend was right. Michelle held a striking resemblance to Michael. Michael had played baseball with them and was a year younger. He was a good ball player, but he was always one of the more feminine players on the team. It wasn't until years later when he ran into another one of the players that he heard that his teammate who always talked about embracing his feminine side finally did so by going through with the surgery. "So what are you going to do?"

"Tell Jason. We have to." Kim said. They felt as though they were obliged to let him in on the secret.

"Michelle should tell him." Rocky argued. Michael was nice and they were all friends in high school and he felt is though it was his secret to tell. Although considering the fact that he didn't acknowledge his or Carri's presence it made him think he would never tell. Which the more he thought about it the more he thought that it was really weird that Michelle did a really good job of acting like they'd never met before. He thought for a moment that Carri could be wrong but she looked almost just like him.

"You should tell him." Carri said looking over at her boyfriend. "Your both guys. He'll listen."

"Your logic is faulty." Rocky quickly pointed out. "Besides you two are the ones he considers his sisters and I'd want to hear it from family."

"Then you should tell him." Kim said looking squarely at Carri. "You're the one who speaks first thinks later. He won't think much of it."

"He's known you longer." Carri pointed out. She wasn't sure why noone wanted to tell Jason about his girlfriend. Well she knew why she didn't. He looked so happy with her. And she seemed nice. It would be one thing to tell the man that his new girlfriend was a bitch, it's something totally different if you're going to tell him that she used to be a man.

"Yes but"

"Sorry to interrupt." Mollie said as she walked up behind the group and cut Kim off. As Carri's assistant she had been her right hand for planning this entire thing. So far it has gone off without a hitch. The show was about to start and Mollie would finally be able to relax some, but not until she got Carri in front of everyone. "It's ten minutes until show time. Do you still want to say something?"

"Of course." Carri replied. She was surprised that time was flying by so fast. Quickly she excused herself from the group and walked up to the front of the room, grabbing a mic from one of her sound guy's outstretched hands. "Thank you." she said flashing him a quick smile

"You're good." he said as he turned the mic on and the sound up

"Good evening everyone." she spoke loud and clear, snapping all heads toward her. "Thank you all for coming out here tonight." At this point she had everyone's undivided attention. "Tonight we are all here to see the premiere of Traveling In Style, which will be on in just moments on the television behind me. Before it gets started I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been working their assess off over the last few months to make this show a reality. I know things have been crazy but we've all stuck it out and done an amazing job."

She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Once this series is a summer smash we will be a well oiled machine and be prepared for our return in the winter." she said with more confidence than she felt. She hoped the network would continue the show. They had a few more weeks worth of work before they were finished with the summer episodes. Then the show would be on hiatus until final word came down from the network. If they were going to air the show in the winter, they would start filming again in mid-September. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us but for now let's not worry about that. Tonight's the night to celebrate what we've done and enjoy the final project."

As she finished her speech a man toward the front started clapping. Carri looked at him curiously for a moment before she handed the microphone off and ran down to throw her arms around him. "What are you doing here!" she exclaimed

The man warmly returned the hug. "Well as one of my company's projects and our first joint project I couldn't very well miss the premiere."

"Are mom and Josh here?" Carri asked as her father shook his head no. She found herself slightly disappointed but not surprised as her mom probably didn't care and Josh's breakup was still too fresh for him to want to return. "How long are you here for?"

"Just for tonight. I'm flying back on the jet after the party. I just wanted to come celebrate the premiere with the people who made it happen." He had never missed a party for one of his shows, and although this was Carri's project and her company officially produced it, her company was a part of his and this show was their doing.

"Well come on, let's go find the others before the show starts." Carri said grabbing her father by the arm and leading him off through the crowd. She led him up a few stairs and to the small area that had been set up specifically for her and her friends.

Her father greeted the ones he knew and was introduced to the ones he didn't before sitting down beside his daughter. Everyone got comfortable curling up with their significant others as the opening credits started to roll and the show began.

* * *

Jason awoke the next morning in his bed with a slight headache. They had partied most of the night before and he had consumed one too many beers. At Carri's insistence she drove him and Michelle home and he left his car at the club.

It was alright though, the party had been a great time. He was surprised at Jonathan Hillard's arrival as the man barely made it out to California anymore. But Carri had been so excited to see that her father had come to support her show. Considering he didn't show up for either of her graduations or state playoffs, it was nice to see him support something. He was always busy with work. Of course the argument could be made that this trip was work related.

The show itself had been amazing. Although the first episode had been on Angel Grove, they had put such a spin on the show he felt like he learned new things about the town he spent most of his life in. Everyone that had attended the party loved the show, but now it was up to what the rest of the world thought.

Everyone was in a good mood after the show was over and that's when the drinks started flowing. The rangers sat around the table most of the night and laughed and carried on, while Carri ran back and forth between her friends and the other guests. Michelle seemed to loosen up a little and have a good time with his friends at that point which was really awesome.

Jason let out a sigh as his thoughts drifted back to Michelle. She couldn't have come into his life at a more perfect time. Over the last year he hadn't had any luck on the dating front. Then to see the alternate Jason still with Emily only reminded him all over again on how he couldn't seem to have a working relationship. Her involvement with the rangers was more than likely what kept her from running into the arms of another man. He wasn't sure how it came about, he wouldn't have known how to get his Emily involved.

Those were the things that were swirling around in his mind the day he went to turn his book in, only hours after their return from the alternate universe. There were things that happened there that he prayed wouldn't come to pass on this universe, a lot of it involving Teeg and her armies. They had enough to worry about with Callisto in their lives.

He thought about that the entire morning while he was in his publishers office, up until he ran into Michelle. She quickly made all those thoughts disappear and suddenly she was the only thing on his mind. He couldn't believe his good fortune in finding her. It was too early to say for sure, but he thought she really had potential and he could see their relationship going to the next level.

Of course he still had to hear the opinions of his friends, well the girls, before he would say for sure. But they all seemed to get along so well the night before. He couldn't imagine they would find anything wrong with her. He planned on trying to corner them both that afternoon before he took Michelle to dinner that night.

If he was planning on doing anything that day he would have to start by getting up and getting moving. He had a few things he needed to do for his publisher before he could catch up with the two female rangers.

Slowly Jason climbed out of bed and stretched. Now was a good a time as any to get up.

* * *

Some of the previous night's party goers had gotten up earlier than others. Carri was one of them. She was never one to get out of bed early, but that particular night she couldn't sleep. She stayed curled up in Rocky's arms until the sun crept through the clouds. Slowly she pulled herself away from him and snuck out of bed, darting into her office and cranking up the computer.

She couldn't wait to see the overnight's. She had to know if anyone even watched the show. She wasn't expecting to see any reviews that particular morning, those would be flowing in over the next few days. But numbers meant as much as good reviews did.

For a cable show the numbers had been good and Carri was quite pleased about that. She couldn't help but be a little giddy throughout the morning. Rocky had gotten up and they had breakfast then took showers and were both off on their separate ways, him to work and her to meet Kat.

She wasn't sure if she was ready to meet Kat, but seeing the numbers had put her in such a good mood even Kat couldn't bring her down. As she pulled into the parking lot of Babies R' Us and saw Kat standing out front surrounded by mothers with screaming infants who were entering the building, she changed her mind. This day could go bad.

Sighing she pulled into a parking space before jumping out to meet her cousin. "Hey." she greeted

"Hey!" Kat said excitedly as she greeted her with another hug. "I'm so glad we could hang out today. This is going to be so much fun." Kat couldn't wait to spend the morning with her cousin. She wanted them to become friends again and she was determined to reconcile with Carri before the morning was up.

Carri wasn't sure how much fun this was going to be but she smiled and nodded as Kat grabbed a cart and they headed into the store. "So what's up?" Carri asked trying to break the silence that was settling over them

Kat noticed the silence as well and decided she didn't want it lingering the entire time they were out. "I'm sorry about everything that happened. Between us."

"It's ok." Carri said as they slowly walked down one of the aisles. Kat looked at her as though she wanted an apology in return. Carri still didn't feel like she had anything to apologize for.

"Anyway I'm glad we can move past that." Kat continued figuring if she was going to hold out for an apology from Carri she was probably going to be waiting for a while. Kat still felt like Carri had things to be sorry for, but if they were going to make up pointing them out was not the solution. That would only irritate her and send her out the door angry. "I want to be best friends again. I miss that."

Carri didn't reply. She wanted to try to be on solid ground with her cousin but best friends was not what she was looking for. She didn't think they could be best friends again. They were so different at that point they may as well have lived on different planets. Not to mention she still didn't agree with a lot of Kat's choices in life, as she knew Kat didn't agree with a lot of hers.

"It will be fun." Kat said feeling as though she was going to have to persuade her cousin to be best friends with her again. A changing table caught her eye and Kat squealed, changing the topic of conversation figuring she had all morning to work on Carri. "Look at that it would be so perfect in the nursery!" she exclaimed

"It's nice." Carri agreed although she didn't know a thing about the difference between one changing table and another. She could care less about baby stuff and yet she had been bombarded with people having babies lately. Of course some of them were in another reality. And some of them really got under her skin.

"I'm so excited about this baby Carri." Kat said gushing at the thought of her unborn child. "We have so much we have to do to get ready. You'll have to help me. I have all these baby programs I want to get enrolled in. Baby Einstein, baby gym... it would be so cool if you could come to some of those."

Carri crinkled up her noise. It would be a cold day in hell before she stood around with a bunch of prissy mothers trying to shape children who had yet to figure which way was up. "I don't know. I keep a pretty busy daytime schedule with the show and fighting evil and all." she said giving the response she thought would be least offensive

"That's ok. Those programs are hard to keep up with. But maybe sometime you could check them out." Kat said. She couldn't blame her cousin for not being able to attend every baby thing. It was going to be a lot and when you had a huge career it made a difference. "You can still come with me sometime to pick things out for the baby. There's so many toys I want to get to help the baby's growth. And clothes. You absolutely have to help picking out with clothes. I know how much you love clothes shopping." Kat said grinning at her cousin

"Yeah." Carri replied giving her the warmest, fakest smile she could muster. She loved clothes shopping for herself. And she liked helping Kim pick out outfits. But clothes shopping for babies was not her cup of tea.

"Oh and I've decided against formula. I'm going to breast-feed. I've heard that's better for the baby." Kat said getting more excited by finally sharing some baby things with Carri. "And you should see the website I found to order diapers off of. They're so much cheaper and they deliver them in twenty-four hours. This is going to be so great. We can share all this stuff together then you'll be ready when you decide to have your own family."

Carri froze for a moment as they turned the corner toward another aisle. Now Kat had gone just plain crazy and she was going to switch the subject before she did or said something she'd regret. "So how did you enjoy the party last night?"

"It was fabulous." Kat said. She had a wonderful time and enjoyed the show. She hadn't stayed and partied with the others but it was still a lot of fun. "It was great seeing Uncle Jon again. I was sad that Aunt Becky and Josh didn't make it."

"Mom is... mom." Carri said snorting as she finished speaking. She couldn't see her mother wanting to waste the time to fly to California to see Carri's show and spend time with her and her friends. "And Josh didn't want to come down at the moment."

"Oh yeah he and Kim broke up." Kat said trying to convey disappointment she didn't actually feel

"It's alright. Josh has had a flavor of the week since then and Kim has more than moved on." Carri said dig she just took at Kat

"Oh that's right. She's back with Tommy." she replied dryly. "I saw them together at the party last night."

"Yes I suppose you did." Carri said and then it hit her. Kat wasn't in a good mood the previous night. Carri had assumed it had to do with the fact that Chris couldn't make it but now she was pretty sure it had to do with seeing her ex in the arms of the one woman she blamed for ruining their relationship among other things. Kat wasn't one to admit it, but deep down Carri knew she held a grudge. Tommy never looked at Kat the same after he accidentally kissed Kim in Florida. And Kim and Carri became close while she and Kat drifted. Add in Kim's perfect fit with the rangers and you have a whole list of reasons that Kat wasn't fond of Kim. Carri wasn't sure which of Kim's relationships drove Kat more crazy, the one with Josh or the one with Tommy.

Kat made a face as she continued walking. She didn't want Kim to have the opportunity to become a member of the family. But the last thing she wanted was to push her back into Tommy's open arms. The two of them together disgusted her. Sometimes she thought about what would have happened if she and Tommy had their ever after. Not that she wasn't madly in love with Chris, but there was still something about Tommy.

She supposed it never would have worked. Tommy has always been involved with the rangers and she was more than glad when that part of her life was over. But there were reasons they clicked the first time. If Kim hadn't been in the back of his mind during their relationship, things would have turned out differently.

As Kat strolled down the next aisle she saw cribs lining the sales floor and quickly forgot about Kim and Tommy. "Oh Carri you have to help me pick out one of these." she said as she started rummaging through her purse. "I have pictures of what we were thinking about doing with the nursery and you can look at them so we can find one that will fit."

"Sounds like fun." Carri said rolling her eyes when Kat wasn't looking. This was going to be a long morning.

* * *

Tommy stood in the kitchen of his tiny apartment putting the finishing touches on his breakfast in bed. He still couldn't believe that he was with the angel that was in the other room sound asleep.

Regardless of how they got there, the fact was that they had made it back together. And the more he thought about it the more he realized they were meant to be. The way they connected on all levels was amazing. It felt like they had never been apart. In a way their four years apart made them closer than ever. Both had ended up on important ranger missions, and both were now highly revered throughout the galaxy. Because of that they were both now stronger individuals and even stronger together.

He loved her more than anything. On their first official date together he could hardly contain himself. Of course although dinner was their first date, they had plenty of coffee's and lunches together in the days prior. Not to mention they had stood strong together during several talks to galactic leaders regarding the Callisto situation. The galaxy was on edge waiting to see if they could be the ones to finally end her reign of terror.

Carri had attended those meetings as a planetary ranger and had groaned and rolled her eyes at the closeness the duo shared, all the while giddy to see them together again. She wasn't the only member of the ranger family who was excited that Tommy and Kim and found their way back together again. News of them reuniting spread like wildfire and they were getting calls from rangers they hadn't talked to in ages. Kim spent hours on the phone one night talking to Aisha, sounding like a teenager all over again.

Tommy put the finishing touches on the breakfast plates before walking them to the bedroom. When he entered Kim was still fast asleep so he set the trays aside and walked over to her, leaning in and kissing her on her neck. Kim groaned and smiled as Tommy kissed her again. Her eyes opened and she turned, meeting his lips with her own. "Good morning beautiful." Tommy greeted

"Hey." Kim said smiling as she draped her arms around his neck and pulled him in

Tommy let her draw him into her as they kissed passionately for a moment before Kim let him go. "I brought breakfast." he said simply

Kim sat up and looked over at the two trays sitting to the side. "Tommy you didn't have to do that." she said delightfully as she looked at the food he brought over

"It was my pleasure." he replied placing a tray in front of her before climbing in beside her with his own food. "Enjoy."

"Thank you." Kim said as she took a gulp of her orange juice. It was so nice to be sitting in bed with Tommy having breakfast.

They had only been back together three weeks but it had been an amazing three weeks. They promised themselves they'd move slowly, but she had spent a good portion of the last two weeks spending the night at Tommy's. Although neither of them spoke of it, she knew what influenced them.

Traveling to the other world they had seen a Tommy and Kim who were happily married and fighting evil together. Knowing what happened there made them realize more than ever that they were meant to make it work. That they could make it work, despite all that they had been through in their lives. They had gone on their first dinner date after they returned from that world. They felt a closeness that Kim hadn't felt with anyone in a long time. Instead of ending the evening at the restaurant they ended it in Tommy's bedroom.

Seeing the other world also made her fear what could happen to her and Tommy. It made her want to cling onto him a little tighter and hold on a little longer all the while praying that her alternate's universe didn't come back to haunt her. It was a tough time for the alternate Kim and she couldn't imagine going through what she was forced to. Tommy chose that moment to look over at Kim and smile and it gave her the feeling that everything would be alright.

"How's your breakfast?" Tommy asked as he slowly worked on his food

"Good." Kim replied, pulling her thoughts away from the alternate universe and back into her own.

Tommy nodded and smiled as he continued eating. Kim wasn't the only one thinking about the alternate universe as it had crossed his mind several times as well. For the two worlds to be so similar and him and Kim to be married there, it made him want to fast forward this relationship. He knew it was hard to do that though. Everything was so fresh and new and exciting at the moment he wanted to keep her with him forever. But they had quite a different history than other Tommy's and Kim's and he knew that they would have to let things play out for a while.

"What do you want to do today?" Kim questioned as she took a sip of her orange juice

"I was thinking maybe," Tommy paused to lean in closer to Kim, "we could take a shower then go spend the afternoon out on the water." he finished nuzzling her and giving her a kiss

Kim grinned and looked over at Tommy. "That sounds like fun." she replied. She didn't know of any better way to spend a lazy afternoon than out on the water with Tommy.

Tommy quickly finished the rest of his breakfast and put the tray aside. He looked over at Kim who still had food left on her plate. Leaning in closely to her he pulled the strap down of her top and kiss her shoulder, before working his way down her arm.

"Tommy I'm trying to eat." Kim scolded playfully

"So eat faster." he said as he took her hand and kissed her fingers

"It would help if I had two hands." she replied

Tommy made eye contact with her for a moment before grinning and giving back her hand. He glanced down at the imaginary watch on his wrist. "I'm timing you, you know."

"That's great so you want me to choke on my breakfast." Kim said rolling her eyes all the while smiling at him. She quickly took a few more bites of her breakfast then pushed the tray aside. "Ok. I'm done. Are you happy now?"

"Yes." Tommy replied, pouncing on her and pulling her down to the bed. He kissed her passionately before slipping his arms under her top and slowly pulling it off. "I think we need to go take a shower now."

Kim squealed with delight as he scooped her up and brought her into the bathroom. She kissed him throughly as they slowly undressed each other before working their way into the shower.

* * *

On the other side of the country a blond figure appeared, angry and disoriented in the middle of the park. In a huff she walked over to a picnic bench and saw a newspaper sitting there. She picked it up to look at the title and date. It was a copy of the Miami Daily from that morning, dated June 10, 2007.

"Two weeks." she growled out of frustration. She created a fireball with her hand and turned to throw it at a nearby tree. She watched as the flames engulfed the tree and the few birds that had made it their home fled in fear of their lives.

Watching things burn usually made Callisto feel much better, but this wasn't helping any. The only thing that would help her is if she could get her hands on that blasted Kemora and rip her limb from limb. She hoped the rangers had only banished her so she could have the fun in destroying them all.

She couldn't believe that she had spent the last two weeks on the Island of Illusion listening to that blasted Quagmire. She had heard of the place before only she thought it had been destroyed by Rita years ago. Apparently Kemora was well aware of its continued existence.

Her two weeks there had given her a massive headache and all she wanted to do now was destroy something. She had trouble trying to figure out how get out of that hell. For two weeks she was followed around by hallucinations of the rangers, mostly Carri, both morphed and unmorphed. The illusions would attack and usually manage to do some damage but they were more of an annoyance than anything as she was a goddess. However the island interfered with her powers so instead of being able to destroy Carri she had to sit there and listen to her taunt her.

Between Carri taunting her and Quagmire pestering her, she would've gone crazy had she not been there already. Most of the hallucinations would disappear as quickly as they appeared. She had been there almost a week when Carri and Kim both showed up and wouldn't leave her alone. Every where she turned the white and red rangers were there, waiting to pounce. She was beginning to think they were real and were there to destroy her. Three days of them attacking and taunting constantly was enough to put her in her own personal hell. She could feel her powers fading and feel herself fading before she remembered that she was a goddess. She started thinking about all the things she had done with her powers and all the things she would do once she got back to Earth.

Eventually she felt much better and Kim and Carri disappeared. Once they were gone she slowly started to be restored to her former self, powers and all. That didn't stop Quagmire from following her around for the next four days as her powers were restored. In the midst of one of his rambling she regained the ability to make fire and promptly tested it on him. Satisfied she took out some more of the island while she thought about how to get out of there and get back to Earth.

Now more than anything all she wanted to do was go back to the palace and destroy those rangers. Once the tree finished burning to the ground she took off for the moon. Callisto arrived in her quarters and wasted no time hustling into the main throne room.

"There you are. I was beginning to worry." Rhianna said as she spun around and saw her enter

Callisto raised an eyebrow. Kemora made her, a goddess, disappear for two weeks and she was just now starting to worry. "I'll get my revenge on Kemora."

"She left shortly after you did and she hasn't been seen since. We think the rangers may have trapped her somewhere." Rhianna informed her. She had Goldar and Cratus trying to track Kemora but with no luck.

"She can't hide from me forever." Callisto said simply as she glanced around the throne room. "How are our upgrades going?" she questioned hoping for some good news that day

"Better than expected." Rhianna replied hoping that she could please Callisto with her next bit of information. "They're almost complete."

"They are?" the goddess asked, forgetting for a moment the hellish two weeks she spent on the Island of Illusion. "When will they be ready?"

"We will be ready to attack the rangers within the next two hours." Rhianna informed her. The upgrades had gone better than expected. They took longer to complete but it was alright as Rhianna didn't think there was any way the rangers could get around them and defeat them. Their army would essentially render the Turbo powers useless.

"Good." Callisto said, smiling as she started to play with fire in her hands. "We need to discuss our strategy."

"Strategy?" Rhianna questioned, genuinely confused. "I thought we were just going to send the army down to destroy them."

"That takes all the fun out of it." Callisto replied as she allowed the flame in her hand to disappear. "No we're going to let our armies go down there and beat them, strip them of their powers. Then we'll go down with Cratus and Goldar and finish them off ourselves."

Rhianna smiled. She liked having Callisto around as she liked the way she thought. There was one question in the back of her mind. "What if we have to deal with the Planetary Rangers?"

Callisto paused and thought for a moment. This was actually something that her mind had crossed over several times before. She thought she had a solution to that as well. "I'll take care of it." she said as she glanced over at Rhianna. "You stay here and make sure the upgrades get finished on schedule. I'm going to go get a present for the Planetary Rangers."

"Where are you going?" Rhianna asked, stopping the goddess from teleporting herself off

"To see an old friend." she replied as with a wave of her hand she was gone, leaving Rhianna in the palace to get their work done

* * *

Carri walked out of the last baby store rubbing her temples. She escaped any more torture by telling Kat she couldn't stay for lunch or more shopping because she had work to do. What she really needed to do was take a few shots and collapse on the couch, grateful that the morning was over.

Spending time with her cousin wasn't all that bad. It was the fact that they were shopping for baby stuff that made it bad. She was so tired about hearing about babies that she wanted to scream or strangle something. And it didn't help that Kat spent the morning trying to be her best friend again. If she heard one more line about how they could be bestest friends again like nothing every happened, she probably was going to strangle something. And it would probably be tall, blonde and very fond of pink. They had grown older and apart and Kat would just have to come to accept that. Or Carri might have to kill her.

She sighed as she climbed into her car and started the engine. As she looked around she realized she was very close to Rocky's Angel Grove school, where he was spending the afternoon. She figured she could drop by and maybe they could go have lunch together. Carri could tell him how she was going to do physical damage to her cousin and Rocky could remind her that Kat meant well even if she drove her crazy.

Carri pulled out of the small shopping center and drove the few blocks to Rocky's school. She pulled in and parked beside his car before climbing out and heading in. She smiled as she approached the small receptionist's desk. "Excuse me is Rocky..." Carri stopped short as the receptionist spun around. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clinched. She was already ready to strangle something and she thought she knew what was going to be. "What the hell are you doing here?" she growled

"I work here. But you're loitering. So you'll have to leave now or I'm going to have to call the police." Jessica said as she smiled sweetly at Carri and reached for the receiver

Carri slammed her hand down on the phone so hard that several of the parents that were picking up their children turned to look at her. "I wouldn't do that if I was you. Where's Rocky?"

"He's busy but you can leave him a message." Jessica replied. She was enjoying this more than she could have ever imagined. She knew Carri would eventually show her face in here. And she would be floored that she worked there. She was hoping that in time she could wiggle her way back into Rocky's heart and he would toss that bitch like yesterday's trash.

"Bullshit. You find him and tell him I need to talk to him now." she said fiercely with a deadly look in her eye. She was not in the mood to play games and Jessica had about three seconds before she got her nose broken again.

Jessica thought for a moment. There was a benefit to bringing Rocky out here right now. She could tell by the look in Carri's eyes that she was going to fight something, and if she got Rocky to come out it would probably be him. "Fine. If that's what it will take we'll let him throw you out." she said as she reached for the receiver. Carri took her hand off of it and Jessica picked it up to dial Rocky's office. A few seconds later he picked up. "You have a visitor." she said sweetly

Carri crossed her arms and glared at Jessica. At the moment she wasn't sure what pissed her off more, the fact that Jessica looked so smug sitting behind that desk or the fact that she spoke in such a sweet, seductive tone to Rocky she knew that she was hitting on him again. Suddenly the door opened and Rocky poked his head out. Carri quickly turned her glare toward him. "What the hell is she doing here?" Carri repeated her original question

"Carri what are you doing here?" Rocky asked, looking around to see that people were starting to stare at him. He couldn't believe she stopped by. She never stopped by. He was waiting for the right time to tell her about Jessica, only he hadn't found the right time yet. And now here she was. And she knew. And it didn't take an idiot to tell she was more than a little pissed.

"I was going to swing by and see if you wanted to go to lunch but I can see you probably already have a lunch date." she snapped as she dug her fingernails into her skin

Rocky grabbed her arm and started to pull her toward the back. "Can we talk about this in private?" he asked, although he wasn't going to give her a chance to say no.

Reluctant at first, Carri let him drag her into his office. "Now answer my question." she growled once she was in the office and the door was shut

"She needed money. So I gave her a job." Rocky said trying to defend his actions

"She needed money? That bitch tried to sue me and you gave her a job? What the hell?" she asked as she could feel her anger rising

"She has one more plastic surgery to go, any modeling she was doing is over because of her nose, and it's all my fault." Rocky replied. He felt incredibly guilty about everything. He should have never gone out with her in the first place and never strung her along. And he should've been up front with Carri that afternoon. He shouldn't have let her punch Jessica. Now because of all his actions Jessica was out of work and as much as he didn't like it, he needed a new receptionist and because of him she needed money so he hired her. He almost felt bad for her although he wasn't sure if he could tell Carri that because he wasn't sure that she'd understand.

"And what you're supposed to save her? She got her nose broken because she was an idiot, or have you forgotten?" Carri snapped. Rocky started to speak and she cut him off. "And let's not forget that she still loves you. That she's going to spend the entire time hitting on you." Carri added. That was one thing that bugged her the most. When Jessica first spun around in that chair all she could picture was the alternate universe and the little baby that shared Jessica and Rocky's DNA.

She realized that it was an alternate universe, but the similarities were there. The alternate Kim had said that all universes were different, but at the same time theirs were strikingly parallel. That had haunted Carri since they got back, the fear that Teeg could attack or something similar would happen to their world. Of course the fear that Rocky would get Jessica knocked up hadn't crossed her mind until now. Until she saw her working there and realized that they had the opportunity. All she could think about was them screwing when her back was turned and then nine months later everyone's lives would be over.

"I don't love her. I love you." Rocky tried to point out quickly to get his girlfriend to calm down

Carri tried to stop thinking about babies as she rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah like that's going to stop her from trying."

"Carri please." Rocky started as he reached out and touched her arm.

Before he could finish his thought Carri jerked away from him. "Just don't." she snapped. "That bitch is here and she's going to try her hardest to seduce you and regardless of how much you love me she's going to be persistent all the way through until the day I walk in here to find you two screwing on your desk."

With that Carri tuned and stormed out of his office and stomped through the school with Rocky hot on her heels calling after her. He didn't get a chance to stop her as Jessica grabbed him and Carri flew out the front door with a vengeance. "Let her cool down. There's no point in chasing after her now, you might say something you'll regret." Jessica said as she grabbed him by the arm. Or they might reconcile which would be even worse for her. It was best just to let her leave mad and stay mad.

"Yeah... yeah I guess so." Rocky agreed numbly. All he could think as he turned to go back into his office was that this was all his fault. He couldn't believe he had managed to get himself into this mess.

* * *

Billy sat in his office going over some of his work. He had deadlines to meet and projects to finish, but the good news was they were all coming along quite nicely. That was why he made good money and was a highly regarded member of the company. All his projects came along well at met deadlines, and all of them were well above expectations.

His job was hard work but he could honestly say he enjoyed it. Not to mention he was good at it. Good enough that Trini would never have to work another day in her life if she didn't want to. But she had a job that she loved too, and she made decent money doing it. She had a passion for the environment and fighting the fight for those creatures who couldn't fight it for themselves. He admired that about her, and it only made him love her more.

Between the two of them they had more than enough to afford nice cars and a nice home, and have some left over. They both agreed to put the leftover money in savings, which they used on occasion for a vacation or to splurge on something fancy.

What Billy really wanted to do with their extra income was put it toward starting a family. That was the next step in their lives, one they had both talked about at length. That was easier said than done, as they both had been rangers on the original team. The morphin coins had been the only power designed to prevent pregnancy of the women who were connected to their energy. Unfortunately the energy of the coin would stay with someone long after they quit being a morphing ranger. They were able to have children as the effects of the coin were now sporadic and would eventually wear off, although it would take them longer to conceive than normal couples. Kat had gotten lucky in her pregnancy, and Billy suspected it was due to the fact that she hadn't held a coin for long before they went over to using the Zeo Crystal.

Other powers hadn't connected as much with the inner workings of the human body, so rangers like Ashley had more luck. Of course some powers were completely intertwined with humans such as the Dino Gems. It would be interesting to do a study on those rangers to see the effects of the gem on human DNA. He wasn't sure what would happen when those rangers, especially Kira, decided to settle down and start a family.

Even if it took them years to conceive they wouldn't give up. They were ready to start their own family, ready to pass on the Kwan-Cranston legacy. The thought of becoming a father overjoyed him and he hoped he could see it come to pass sooner rather than later. Of course if they were never able to have kids, that wouldn't matter. He loved Trini more than anything and she was all that he needed to live his life.

Billy let out a sigh and tried to go back to getting his work done. His thoughts kept drifting around as he thought of his wife and his friends and how everything around him was falling into place once again. The one thing that finally pulled him back into reality was his phone alarm going off.

Glancing down at it he saw that it was an emergency signal coming from the Command Chamber. Quickly he made sure the office was locked before he teleported himself up. He ran to the controls and tried to cue up the disturbance. As he looked at the scene in front of him he cursed under his breath.

After weeks of near in activity, Cratus, Goldar, a monster and a small army of Cirranadrones were now attacking the surface. He was afraid that this could only mean one thing, and it wasn't good. He rushed over to the control panel and started paging the rangers so that they could hurry and get out to the action.

* * *

Tommy and Kim found themselves on a rented motorboat floating around lazily in the middle of the ocean. There was noone to be seen for what felt miles as the only other two boats that had been out there had gone in already. That suited them just fine as it left them all alone to soak up the sun and spend time together.

Kim popped open a soda from the small cooler they had brought. "So Dr. Oliver." she started as she went to sit in his lap. "Now that you've got me out here what do you want to do with me?"

Tommy pulled her in and gave her a kiss, his heart racing as he thought about that morning's shower and all the things he could do to her. "Why don't we strip you down and get you some sun." he said tugging on the tank top and shorts she had worn over her bikini. He had to try and keep from taking her right there as you never knew when a boat with kids was going to pull up.

Kim stood and smiled at him, grabbing the bottom of her shirt and pulling it up a little. "You just want me to strip for you." she teased. In reality it was a good idea, she could use a nice relaxing afternoon laying out in the sun. That was the idea of the trip. Tommy had brought some work to look over as he wasn't much for the sunbathing, but the duo planned to do some relaxing and swimming and enjoying each other's company.

"Hey now." Tommy said sitting up and grabbing her waist, pulling her back down to him and giving her a kiss. "Are you really going to strip in front of everybody?"

Kim tossed her head back and let out a laugh. "It was your suggestion remember." she pointed out squeezing him lightly and kissing him throughly in return.

"I guess it was." Tommy replied with a laugh of his own as he put his arms around her and kissed her. For a moment they were lost in each other's embraces. They paused and pulled apart and were both brought back to reality. "Let's do some of that relaxing we wanted to do."

Kim nodded and let Tommy glide her off of his lap and next to him. As she went to pull her shirt off, their communicators chirped. She declined to remove the shirt as she sighed and scooted in next to Tommy.

One glance at his girlfriend and Tommy knew that the romance of the previous moment was gone and that they had both slipped into ranger mode. "Go ahead." Tommy spoke into the communicator

Billy's voice came through loud and clear. "Guys you need to get into the city now. They've launched a huge attack. This could be serious so be careful."

"Alright. We're on our way." Tommy replied. He and Kim stood and looked around, and once they were satisfied that there was noone anywhere close to them they looked at each other and nodded. "Shift into turbo!"Tommy yelled as they quickly morphed and teleported to the scene.

* * *

On the beach miles away from Tommy and Kim's romantic moment laid a certain pissed off yellow ranger. Carri left her boyfriend's school and drove around for a while. To angry to do anything, she went to the one place she knew she could close her eyes and think for a while, and hopefully calm down.

Laying on the beach and feeling the warmth of the sun on her face was certainly helping. Being in the sand far away from the scene of the crime gave her a chance to think things through. She understood that Rocky had a good heart and wanted to help people. She was still having trouble understanding him wanting to help Jessica.

After the visit to the alternate universe she hoped he would have decided that he needed to stay away from the little tramp. That he would know that Jessica was only trouble, and that there was the possibility that one day Carri would be the bitter yellow ranger whose boyfriend had a child with a woman she despised. Instead she goes to visit him to find them working together.

Following her morning with Kat that was the last thing she needed to see. She still had a lot of bent up anger from her day. Jessica was nothing more than icing on the cake. Of course regardless of whether or not she had spent the morning with Kat, she still wouldn't have been pleased to run into Jessica at Rocky's school.

Carri let out a long sigh as she thought about the days when Jessica was nothing more than an annoyance on her radar, the little high school girl who wanted the big college boyfriend and to hang out with his big college friends. Things had changed so much since college and most of it had been for the better, but that was one of the things about college she missed. Now Jessica was old enough to hit on her boyfriend and actually had a prior relationship with him. Carri surprised herself by smiling as she thought about how at least now she could hit the bitch without worrying about being brought up on assaulting a minor charges.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do with the whole situation. The more she thought about it the less angry she was with Rocky and the more she wanted to just go kick the crap out of Jessica and be done with it. Jessica would probably love to fight her. She probably thought her three karate classes made her better than Carri, and Carri would love to prove her wrong.

As her mind was focused on the situation at hand her communicator went off. Slowly she lifted her hand up and went to answer it. "What's up?"

"Cratus and Goldar have launched a major attack in the city. You need to get over there right away." Billy quickly informed her

"Got it." she replied as she sat up and dusted the sand off. She thought about how her day just couldn't get any better as she stood up and went to look for a secure place to morph. Although she did have a lot of bent up anger and an overwhelming need to beat the crap out of something. Since it wasn't going to be Jessica, good old Goldie would just have to do.

She found a spot where she was completely hidden, and being more than ready to jump into the action she morphed. "Shift into turbo!" she cried as she disappeared in a flash of yellow light

* * *

Jason walked out of his publisher's office with a smile on his face. He had spent the last hour looking over the first copy of his book to make sure everything was alright, and working on picking the cover. There were so many options for good cover art he was having trouble choosing just one. Finally he picked the one he felt most captured the book and would capture the attention of readers wondering through the bookstore.

He also chose the summary that he would want to appear on the book as well as decided to go with the general semi-true biography of Luke Kirk that would appear on the book. There was always a random male picture of the author that looked somewhat like Jason but not close enough for people to mistake Jason for Luke Kirk. His biography stretched the truth of his life somewhat. Instead of spending most of his life in Angel Grove, he was born and raised in Sacramento. Instead of graduating from USC, he went to college at UCLA. Some facts, such as him growing up with both parents and a younger sister and him never being married were the complete truths. The rest of it he maneuvered around so that noone could suspect Jason as the author of the books.

The only part that was left was to get production rolling and start marketing the new book. As far as Jason was concerned, his involvement was finished and he was just waiting for the book to hit the shelves. They would show him any marketing campaigns they wanted to do and he would just agree to it, as marketing wasn't his strong point. Besides they took a cut of the profits to market the book and he always let them handle everything.

Of course the waiting game was the worst part of the entire process. But he would grin and bear it as he didn't have many other options. Besides, now that he was done with the book he had more time to spend with his friends and his new girlfriend. And more time for saving the world.

He needed to give the girls a call and get them together so that he could talk to them both. As he walked through the lobby and toward the exit of his publisher's building, he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his cell phone, quickly dialing Carri's number. It rang twice before his communicator went off, and Jason snapped the phone shut before ducking into a janitor's closet.

"Go ahead." he said pulling the communicator toward his mouth

"You need to go join the others. Cratus and Goldar have launched an attack." Billy spoke quickly

"On my way." Jason replied. Satisfied that noone was watching the janitor's closet, he quickly morphed. "Shift into turbo!" he yelled before teleporting to the scene

* * *

Rocky had been sitting in his office behind closed doors ever since Carri stormed out of his school. He had tried more than once to call her, but her phone kept going straight to voicemail indicating that she more than likely turned it off. That didn't stop him from leaving several messages, most of which were apologizing profusely and begging her to just call him back.

Eventually he gave up on the phone calls. He knew Carri well enough to know that she would make contact with him when she was good and ready, if she was ever good and ready. That didn't help him at all as he sat in his office on edge. He was trying to finish the paperwork he started before Carri arrived at his school but he just couldn't concentrate on it.

All he could think about was how angry she had gotten with him. He loved her and only her and he thought she knew that. But he also knew Carri and Jessica's history, and he could see how Carri could fly off the edge upon seeing Jessica working for him. In a way Carri was right. He was well aware that Jessica still loved him, and would probably spend most of her time hitting on him. He hoped that after he showed absolutely no interest in Jessica she would eventually give up. Of course after what he went through in college he should probably know better.

As he sat there staring mindlessly at the papers he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." he called. He was hoping it was Carri coming back to try and work things out.

The door opened and it was the opposite of who he wanted to see. "Hey." Jessica greeted as she walked through and shut the door behind her. "How are you doing?" she asked as she leaned against the door and pushed her chest out.

Rocky glanced up from his desk for a brief moment. This was the last thing he needed. "I'm fine." he replied not wanting to get into a discussion with her about his problems

"I'm sorry about what happened out there. She just went crazy." Jessica said sympathetically while batting her eyelashes

"It's not your fault." Rocky replied. At least not completely. He was pretty sure Jessica knew which buttons of Carri's to push and tried to push all of them.

Jessica's heel's clicked against the floor as she walked over to Rocky's desk, putting a hand on his arm. "If you need anything just let me know." she said trying to make eye contact before giving him a hug.

Rocky was taken back by the gesture as he was surprised she'd try to move in this fast. "Thanks." he replied gently pushing her away. As she sat down on his desk he thought about how he should just throw her out of his office. If it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want to make any more drama at work he probably would.

"You want me to look at any of this?" Jessica asked, gesturing to his paperwork and flashing him a smile

Besides the fact that she wouldn't know what she was doing, he didn't want her any more involved in his business than the simple task of receptionist. Before he could utter an answer, his communicator went off. He had never been so happy to hear it chirp in his life. "Oh I need to get this call. Will you excuse me?" Rocky said giving her a half smile

"Of course. I'll be out here working if you need me." she said as she left Rocky's office

The blue ranger jumped up and locked the door behind her before answering his communicator. "Go ahead."

"You need to join the others immediately." Billy spoke

"Got it." Rocky replied. After double checking to make sure that the door was locked he quickly teleported and arrived on the scene.

* * *

Rocky was the final ranger to get there, and he made it just in time to jump in on the action. "Metallic armor, power up!" Tommy yelled right as Rocky joined the formation

"If you think that will help you then you're sadly mistaken." Cratus replied with a smile on his face as he gave the signal to attack

"We'll see about that." Tommy replied as they quickly split up

Cratus and Goldar stayed back as they were only there to oversee the operation at the moment. With the duo not in the fight, Tommy, Kim and Carri ran after the monster while Jason and Rocky decided to try and make quick work of the Cirranadrones.

It didn't take long for the rangers to discover that they would be making quick work of noone. After a few moments of battle the rangers found themselves laying on the ground in pain, having been thrown around as though their powers didn't even exist. Slowly they pulled themselves to their feet and regrouped.

"This is what they've been looking for." Kim said clutching her sides as she stood beside her boyfriend. It was only a matter of time before the forces of evil found the solution that could destroy them all.

"Don't give up guys." Tommy ordered trying to hid the pain he was feeling. Although he spoke the words to his team he knew he didn't have to. They would rather die fighting than give up.

"How cute red ranger." Goldar snarled. This was the moment he had been waiting for since the moment he first came to Earth with Rita on that faithful day almost fourteen years ago. The opportunity to rid the world of the power rangers. "What are you waiting for?" he asked eying the monster as both the monster and Cirranadrones circled the ranger team.

The rangers watched as the monster unveiled some sort of weapon and pointed it at them. They had mere seconds to brace themselves for the attack only seconds were not enough. The weapon fired in their direction and they flew back upon impact, not able to do anything as the metallic armor slowly disappeared from their suits.

Before they could stand and compose themselves they were covered in Cirranadrones. They tried to fight back but without much luck. The Cirranadrones were quicker, faster and stronger than ever before and were able to deflect the Turbo rangers abilities like it was nothing. The harder the rangers fought the harder the Cirranadrones fought, until eventually the monster jumped in and started firing his weapon at them.

The first shot was powerful enough to disable the metallic armor, and the second shot was proving powerful enough to cause them to power down. One by one the rangers took hits, and one by one they were civilians standing in the middle of a group of monsters.

"We have to teleport back." Carri said. She wasn't ready to admit defeat, but even she wasn't stupid enough to stand around and challenge these odds.

Tommy glanced over at her. Like it or not, he agreed. "She's right. Let's get back and see what Billy has." Hopefully he could give them some sort of answer, anything at this point would help.

Goldar and Cratus watched as the rangers went to teleport off. "Going so soon?" he questioned as they disappeared. He smiled as the last flashes of multicolored light were gone. It was time to alert Callisto and Rhianna and start phase two of their plan.

* * *

The rangers appeared in the Command Center feeling defeated and slightly panicked. "Billy I hope you have some ideas for us." Jason said as the last of the teleportation beam disappeared and the former ranger came into focus.

"I've been working on something but it's not completely ready." Billy said. They moved faster than he had anticipated. He had an idea on how to increase the rangers ability in battle but he hadn't put it all together yet. He had to wait and see what the evil forces were doing before he could finish his work with any certainty. Now he would have to rush the rest of his plans through, but even then he wouldn't be ready for a while.

"How long is it going to take?" Tommy questioned stepping forward in front of the group

"If I can get it done fast...," Billy said his voice trailing of as he paused to think, "a few hours at best."

"Billy we don't have hours." Kim reminded him, her thoughts drifting to the army that they had left in the city. "They're going to destroy everything and we have to be able to stop them."

"What choice to we have?" Rocky questioned. He didn't want to see Angel Grove get destroyed any more than they did but they'd get killed if they went back out there. "It's not like we can defeat them like this and if something happens to us, they'll be noone left to save the world."

"Rocky's right." Billy agreed. It was more than stupid for them to try and rush off into battle. "Besides they seem to be in some sort of holding pattern at the moment. If they stay like that long enough I may be able to get this done. But even when I finish there's no guarantee this is going to work."

"So you go do what you need to do and we'll work on plan B." Kim said looking over and making eye contact with Billy. Billy nodded and took off in a rush, hoping he could defeat the odds and get this done before it was too late.

"Any ideas on plan B?" Jason questioned once Billy was gone. He first looked at Kim then glanced over at Tommy. Both stood there with their arms crossed in front of their chest looking as though they were trying to think hard about the situation at hand.

Before either could think of a response the alarms went off. Carri walked over to the console and keyed up the disturbance. The same army as before was there, only this time they had been joined by two others. "She's back." Carri said simply, anger rising as she watched Callisto torch a car, setting off explosions of several other cars nearby. The alternate Kim had said she would eventually come back, and Carri should have known from the attack that she finally returned. She turned toward Kim and locked eyes with her. "I know what plan B is."

Kim simply nodded in response. It was time for the red and white rangers to make an appearance. "Let's do it."

"Wait, do what?" Tommy asked stopping the girls before they could morph

"We'll go down as planetary rangers and try to defeat them." Kim said. It was the best plan she could think off, probably because it was the only plan she could think of.

"You saw what they did to our powers. What makes you think you're going to fare any better?" Tommy questioned. He was not in the slightest thrilled with Kim's idea.

"Tommy there are powers out there that are much stronger than the Turbo powers." Kim quickly pointed out. "And our Planetary powers happen to quite possibly be the strongest. We're not asking your permission to go, we're going." she told him the red ranger in her showing through

She looked over at Carri and nodded, and before Jason or Rocky could make a protest of their own the two girls morphed. "Planetary rangers power up!" Kim cried out as they quickly returned to the surface

Callisto smiled smugly at the two rangers as they arrived. She was more than hoping they'd show up. "It's good to see you again." she said giving them a look

"Too bad we can't say the same for you." Carri replied as she and Kim started to attack the Cirranadrones

Both girls found the fight to be easier as Planetary Rangers. They were working hard to defeat the Cirranadrones at the start of the fight. They both called on their weapons and powered them up before running through the Cirranadrones like they were nothing.

Callisto finally decided she was tired of watching them fight. It was time to put her plan into action. She stepped to the front of the group, pushing the monster out of the way of the blast the girls had aimed toward him and ducking to avoid it herself. She reared her hand back and threw several fireballs at the girls, each of them missing.

They did do what she wanted them to do as the two female rangers regrouped and charged at her, weapons in hand. Both thought something was odd as Callisto stood there calmly, waiting for them to attack. When they were close enough the goddess reached behind her back and pulled something out, slamming it to the ground. For a brief second the girls were blinded by a flash of light, then they disappeared.

Callisto smiled satisfactorily as she went to pick up the orb she had thrown. She grabbed it with both hands and pulled it close, getting a good look at the unmorphed rangers who were now trapped inside. This orb was magical, and it was made specifically to interfere with planetary powers. It would trap any Planetary rangers nearby and keep them from morphing again. The best part was that the orb would drain them of their life energy slowly and painfully.

"So now what?" Rhianna questioned as she walked up toward Callisto and looked at the two rangers in the orb. She had to admit, it was more than a little satisfying seeing them there.

"Now for the fun part. We get to watch the show." she said, amused by the duo yelling and screaming at her but getting nowhere

"What about the others?" Rhianna asked. There were still three more rangers to destroy. They had gotten the two most important ones, but she wouldn't let the others slide that easily.

Callisto glanced around the battlefield. All that was left of their earlier creations was the monster. She tilted her head toward Rhianna and smiled. "We'll go quickly make some more Cirranadrones. Then we can take them all out in style."

She was in such a good mood that she didn't mind waiting a little while to take out the rest of the rangers. Their powers were useless and they wouldn't be able to stop them. But they would be so upset about the girls and the fact that they were destroying the city that they would certainly try.

Rhianna nodded. She wanted to attack now but she trusted Callisto. After all the goddess had gotten her this far. Besides Cirranadrones were easy to make and they would be back down to the surface shortly. With a wave of her staff the group of evil doers were transported back to the palace.

* * *

"What... what the hell just happened?" Rocky asked, his chest tightening as he watched the girls disappear and the army leave

"I don't know." Tommy said stunned as well. He couldn't believe that he stood there without any answers the one time he needed them the most. He had to get to the girls, he had to save Kim and he didn't even know where to start.

"That orb Callisto was holding, I think she trapped them in it." Jason said as he continued to view the scene even though everyone was long gone by then. He couldn't believe that one minute they were there and kicking ass, and the next they were gone.

"She did." Billy agreed as he walked back into the main room. He had viewed the action from a small screen back in his lab. He had seen the orb and thought he knew what it was. After doing some quick research he found that unfortunately he was right.

"So how do we save them?" Rocky asked. If Billy knew what happened maybe they could get them back quickly.

"The orb was believed to only be a myth." Billy started as he walked over to the console and pulled up some information. Details on the orb popped up and Billy continued speaking. "The orb was created by an evil sorcerer. It was designed to trap the Planetary rangers and demorph them. Once inside the orb, the magic would be able to prevent them from morphing and breaking out."

"So can we find the orb and get them out?" Jason asked hopeful that they could come up with an easy solution to that problem.

"In theory yes. But very few knew of the orb's existence, let alone have seen it." Billy pointed out

"That's ok. As long as they're alright for now we'll deal with it." Tommy said. He felt a little better knowing that they should be able to fix that situation.

"Well..." Billy said letting his voice trail off. The three concerned male rangers turned to look at him. The tone of his voice was not very reassuring and they wanted to know why. Billy let out a heavy sigh before he spoke again. "The orb was also designed to drain the life force of any rangers trapped inside of it. By my calculations we have until about lunchtime tomorrow to find them or there won't be anyone left to save."


	12. Power Play

**Disclaimer:** Callisto still belongs to Universal and the rangers still belong to Disney. The Nova rangers are property of KSuzie. Also any mentions of the alternate universe and the use of the alternate Kim or "K" comes from her fics and is her property as well. Everything else belongs to me.  
**Author's Notes:** There are references to something that happens to Kim in the alternate universe that has changed her. I declined going into specifics as details will come out in KSuzie's "The Coins Series". I will explain it further for those of you not reading the Coins in my next chapter. Also if you're not reading the Coins, here's just a little bit of background to help with the last chapter and this chapter from events that happened in the Coins chapter 19. A Kim from an alternate universe traveled the universe of the Legacy rangers to ask for their help. This is a very powerful Kim, or K as the rangers were told to call her to avoid confusion. When she arrives in the Legacy universe the rangers are battling Callisto. To make quick work of the goddess so she could get the rangers help, she pretended to be Kemora and sent Callisto to the Island of Illusion. She then brings the rangers back to her world to help with the battle against Kemora (who they've previously fought in my Ranger Scrolls series) and Teeg and hopefully save their planet. This is what some of the references of the last two chapters have been to, and hopefully they make some sense now. If not feel free to email me with any questions.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Power Play"

The boys looked around the Command Chamber at each other. "We have to do something fast." Jason was quick to point out the obvious.

"Yeah but what do we do? We have to figure out how to save the girls. And stop Callisto." Rocky said although he felt as though saving the girls was the most important of the two tasks.

Tommy took a few deep breaths. "I don't know what to do." he admitted. He hated that feeling and he hated even more admitting it to others, even if it was to rangers of similar status to his own. He always had answers, ideas on where to go next. But he had nothing now when it mattered most.

"We have to save the girls." Jason said. He couldn't stand the thought of losing his two sisters like that. They had to do something and quickly. He refused to let them die out there.

"Right." Rocky agreed, glad that he wasn't the only one who was concerned about that more than anything.

Tommy nodded. They were right, saving the girls was a major priority. Although the red ranger in him wasn't convinced it was the top priority. It was his heart that was telling him to pursue that first and worry about the rest of it later. "So how do we do it?"

Billy sighed as he looked over at the monitors. He had ideas, none of them solid but all worth a try. "I have an idea." he spoke as all eyes turned toward him. "The girls have been captured in the orb and taken away, but I'm still reading the residual energy of their Planetary Powers where the orb was."

"What does that mean?" Jason asked looking for clarification. He had never been able to understand Billy when he spoke of technology.

"It means that energy is attached to the orb, and if we're lucky that energy left a trail to their location." Billy replied.

"So we can track them?" Rocky asked feeling hopeful.

"In theory, yes." Billy said. He hoped it would, they would concentrate better on the fight if he could find a solution to the situation with the girls. He was upset about his missing friends as well, but he could keep his head straighter about the situation as he wasn't as emotionally attached as they were.

"So what are you waiting for? Go find them." Tommy said in an authoritative voice that would have made any other ranger move.

"Finding the girls is important." Billy assured them. "But let's not forget that there's an angry goddess out there with the spawn of Lord Zedd and Rita who have surpassed your powers and can now destroy you and conquer Earth." he reminded them. Figuring out what to do about them was just as important if not more so than saving their teammates. He knew that they knew that and would realize that once they put things into perspective.

"We can try our powers again just to slow them down." Jason suggested. Billy was right, they needed to worry about saving the Earth. It was what the girls would want. "Or we can use our Ninjetti powers to throw them off track."

"As much as you want to fight, both sets of powers are insufficient and using either will get you killed. That's not going to do anyone any good." Billy was quick to point out. It would be hard for his friends not to run out and fight, he knew the feeling too well and knew what they were thinking. But if they died there would be no one left to defend the planet and Rhianna and Callisto would take over.

Jason crossed his arms. That answer wasn't helpful at all. "So what do you propose we do?" he questioned in a huff. If Billy was going to reject his ideas he had better have something in mind.

"I don't know. I'm still working on something but it's going to take a while, especially with the girls missing now." Billy said with a sigh. There was too much to do and sadly only one of him. He wished he could call the alternate Billy in to take on one of his tasks but he knew that wasn't possible.

Tommy looked over at the others with a cold hard stare. Something had to be done to protect the planet and he was racking his brain to figure out what. Kim made the point before she disappeared that there were other ranger teams out there that were more powerful than their own that could stand up to the duo. There weren't any other rangers on Earth that could help. The only other active team, the Overdrive team, was too busy with their own demons to fight.

That left them with nothing. Well nothing here anyway. The more Tommy thought about it the more he thought about how perhaps he was looking in the wrong place. There were other teams of rangers in the galaxy, some of which would be willing to help. Kim always told him that another powerful team of rangers was the Nova rangers. If he could bring them into help they could fight Callisto. After all she wouldn't be prepared for them and that would give them a better chance.

"What if we could get another team to help us." Tommy suggested to the rest of the team.

"You'd have to find a team that still has powers, powers that were strong enough to defeat their army." Jason was quick to point out. It was a good idea, but not if they were sending another team of rangers to an early grave.

"I was thinking about the Nova Rangers." Tommy said.

Rocky and Jason looked at him curiously as they only knew about the Nova's what they had heard from the girls. Billy shot him a look. "I'm not sure that the Nova's would jump to help us." From what he had heard they had enough trouble of their own without the rangers of Earth adding to it.

"It's worth a shot." Tommy replied. "Plus Elemi respects Kim, I'm sure he'd want to help her." The red Nova ranger's respect was obvious in the conversations Tommy had stood in on over the last few weeks. Plus the Nova's were highly concerned with the outcome of this battle, as they were on Callisto's list as well.

Billy sighed. "It's worth a shot." He said. It couldn't hurt for him to ask Elemi, besides it wasn't like he had any better ideas at the moment.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's contact them." Rocky said, excited that they could get something done.

Tommy briefly looked at Jason who nodded with approval before turning toward Billy. "Open up communications with the Enzway."

A few button pushes later, the black screen in front of the rangers faded away to the face of a man in a red uniform. "Tommy." Elemi greeted the red Turbo ranger. He looked around for a moment and saw men there that he didn't recognize and two member's of the Turbo team missing. "Where's Kim?" he questioned. She was the ranger he dealt with as she was the red Planetary ranger. It was certainly odd for the leader of the Turbo team to be contacting him on his own.

"She's been captured. Callisto's holding her in a containment orb." Tommy said simply, looking the other red square in the eyes.

Elemi's jaw tightened. If it was the orb he assumed it was, that wasn't a good thing at all. "So what can we do to help? I assume that's why you've contacted me, to ask for our help."

Tommy nodded. "Callisto's managed to figure out a way to render our powers obsolete. The girls tried with the Planetary powers but they were both captured. We're working on ideas but they could attack again at any time. We need help defending the planet." It was hard for Tommy to ask another team for help, but he knew he had to do it in order to save the world he lived on.

Elemi thought for a moment about what he wanted to do. He locked eyes with Tommy and held them there for a few seconds before he spoke. "Alright. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thank you." Tommy replied, signaling to Billy to cut the communication. He turned back to the rest of the rangers. "That's one problem taken care of. Billy can you get to work on the girls?" He asked turning toward the former ranger.

"I've already started." He replied, hustling off into another room and leaving the three rangers standing there wondering what was going to happen next.

* * *

Elemi watched as the screen in front of him faded back to black. He sighed as he turned toward his rangers. "Set a course for Earth. Maximum speed." He commanded as he went to sit in his chair.

"Sir are you sure that's a good idea?" Garan questioned. Not that he didn't want to help the rangers of Earth, but they had their own bad guys to deal with.

"We must help them." Elemi replied. Garan nodded at him and turned back to his work.

Elemi let out a sigh. He was well aware that they had their own battles to fight. But they had just issued a major blow to the demon they'd been chasing and he disappeared. They couldn't find him and since there was a lull in the action he didn't think it would hurt to go help the rangers of Earth. Besides if they stepped back for a few days they may have a better chance of refocusing and getting to him.

He had good reasons for wanting to go to Earth. His primary reason was Callisto and Rhianna. The Nova rangers had been part of the team in space that was thought to have destroyed them. Once they regrouped it made sense that they would go after Kim and Carri first. But once they destroyed them they'd certainly waste no time going after the Nova's and Reiga 4, and Elemi wasn't sure if they'd be able to stop them. If they could overpower the Planetary rangers, the galaxy was in trouble. It would be much easier for them to be stopped on Earth.

The second reason for helping was something that Elemi wasn't going to discuss with anyone. The second reason for helping was the red Planetary ranger. As the red Nova ranger he worked closely with her for almost a year and still spoke with her trying to figure out how to bring balance to the universe. She was a strong warrior and a strong ranger, one of the best he'd ever seen. Before he met her he had never seen a female ranger in action, never served with one. He thought they were useless and that they didn't belong on the battlefield. She had proved him wrong in more ways than one.

The more time he spent with her getting to know her as a ranger and a person the more attracted he became. It wasn't long into his mission before he tried several times unsuccessfully to get her to marry him. She was perfect and they would be unstoppable together between his royal blood and her being one of the original rangers of Zordon. He tried to explain that to her but he quickly realized that she held more clout as one of Zordon's rangers throughout the galaxy than she realized.

Eventually he gave up on his logic and tried to pursue her affections but never with any luck. It drove him wild. There were women throughout the galaxy willing to throw themselves at him yet he couldn't win the heart of the one he wanted. Even after the mission ended her presence remained with him and he often thought of her. He loved and adored her and would do anything for her. She had reminded him of why be a Power Ranger and fight the good fight. Status and power seemed trivial now. He wanted her because he wanted to work with her because she was the most amazing being he'd ever met. He hadn't given up on the idea that maybe she'd change her mind and want to be with him.

Of course none of that would happen if her world was destroyed and she died, which was a major reason that the Enzway was now barreling toward Earth and it's crew preparing for battle. Elemi sat back in his seat, hoping that they could get there in time and were able to help.

* * *

Carri and Kim sat in the containment orb, oblivious to everything that was happening on Earth. Both spent the first part of their time in the orb using every power they could think of to try and get out, but none of them work working. They were continuing to try but they could feel themselves getting weaker and were now having to rest more.

Kim knew that it didn't matter. She had heard of the orb from Dulcea, heard of it's powers. She knew what it was doing to them and that it had no way out. She suspected Carri knew as well, although she hadn't said anything about it. Both were at refusal to talk yet about what could happen. Neither were going to acknowledge this as the end and both wanted to stand strong.

It was to that end that Carri started to speak. "As soon as we get out of here we so deserve an afternoon on the beach." The silence in the orb had gotten unnerving and Carri was trying to lighten the mood. She was aware of what was going on as she could feel her energy, her life force being drained.

"That sounds nice." Kim replied giving her a smile. She wasn't quite as weak as Carri, she could feel part of her body fighting it. The cells that had been transformed were fighting it but even they weren't enough to stop the inevitable. Perhaps if she was completely transformed and had her full powers she could survive, but not like this.

Carri didn't comment again and Kim's thoughts drifted to how she got stronger than her friend in the first place. At the time she thought she was going to die, that it was her end. There were a lot of things she didn't know when it happened. Hell there were still a lot of things she didn't understand about what happened. The alternate Jason and Kim gave her some of their own wisdom and she was smart enough to have an idea what was going to happen, but that didn't make her any less worried about her future.

Now she wished it would have been completed already as she might stand a chance in this bubble, she might be powerful enough to find her way out. Of course she was well aware that it was going to take a very long time to get an understanding of her abilities and to have the kind of power that would be able to get them out of this particular predicament.

Tommy worried about what was going to happen to her. About what would happen as her powers grew. Fortunately for her, her previous training with Dulcea would help her. She had learned so much in her time on Phaedos. Much like Carri, Kim hadn't shared all the details of her training when she returned home. Carri was the only one who knew everything, and now sitting in the orb Kim found herself feeling guilty about not telling Tommy.

She wasn't sure what to tell him. He knew about her connection to her animal spirit, about her levitation abilities. He knew she was a trained fighter, but he didn't realize she was a master warrior. Even if she told him that, he wouldn't know what in all that encompassed. He didn't even know the name she was given, Kaycea. Although he had heard it before as another name that the alternate Kim went by. He hadn't asked her if she knew anything about it since, and she declined to offer up any information.

She supposed she should tell him more. She still loved him and he was still Turbo red, which gave him more of a right to know who he was fighting with. On the other hand she was afraid it would give him more reason to worry about her, if he knew exactly what she'd done and what she could already to do before the incident in the other dimension.

As she laid against the orb she couldn't help but wonder why she was thinking of all this now. Perhaps it was the fear of her dying without telling Tommy all these things she would've let him know in time. Guilt started to rise again until the red in her took over. Tommy would find out when the time was right. After all she would survive this as she knew she had years of battles left to fight. This couldn't possibly be the end.

As if reading her thoughts Carri pulled herself to her feet and looked around. "Let's find a way out of here." She said with new determination. What good it was going to do she wasn't sure, but she was damned if she wasn't going to go down without some sort of a fight.

* * *

Callisto watched as the two girls stood and tried once again to escape from the orb. She didn't know why they continued to try, she was almost positive that they knew it was hopeless. But she was glad that they did as it kept her amused.

She found herself enjoying watching their demise, especially since they couldn't see her watching them. This was all part of her revenge. Callisto hadn't felt anything but rage in centuries, and now here she stood with a genuine smile on her face. She was destroying Kim and Carri, and soon they would kill off the rest of their Turbo team. Rhianna would get her planet and she would be free to kill more of the meddlesome rangers.

It was exciting for her as there were so many possibilities. The most obvious choice would be to go after the Nova Rangers. Although part of her wanted to stay on Earth and take out the former Astro team for the headache they had caused her years ago. After all one of them was a Planetary ranger and she did want to destroy anyone with Planetary powers. She had yet to decide what to do with his girlfriend. Karone had been a ranger, one of those annoying hero's destroying her kind. But as Astronema she had been deliciously evil and a good accomplice of hers. If she could bring Astronema back, the two could easily destroy rangers and rule the galaxy together. It might actually prove to be fun. Like the kind of fun she used to have when she was mortal. Murdering innocents, burning villages... it almost made her miss the old days.

She sparked a tiny flame on her finger and looked it over for a moment. In the old days she had to set her fires the old fashioned way. She had to admit, she didn't think she could go back to a time when she didn't have her powers. It was faster and she could do much more damage as the goddess she was allowed to become. Suddenly she found herself amused that the one who gave her these powers in order to distract and kill her is long since dead, and here she was still killing people and inflicting damage that her enemy fought so hard to stop.

With a glance back at the orb she saw the girls collapse at the bottom again. She doubted they would get back up and try again soon. Besides she needed to go figure out if they were ready to attack yet or not. As much fun as this was, it would be even more so once they destroyed their friends. With a wave of her hand she transported herself out of the web she put the orb in and back to the main throne room where she found Rhianna there waiting for her.

"Are we ready yet?" Callisto questioned the moment she arrived.

Rhianna looked at the goddess, a bit startled by her entrance. "We will be soon. Things are going a bit slower than expected."

Callisto frowned. Patience was not one of her virtues. "What's the hold up?"

"We're making a powerful army. It's much harder to crank out Cirranadrones than before. It took days to do it the first time." Rhianna said. Callisto hadn't been around the first time but it wasn't easy to get the more powerful Cirranadrones up and working. This time around it was going much faster, but it still wasn't instant.

"Fine." Callisto said simply not wanting to discuss the topic further.

"So are we going to attack again once they're ready?" Rhianna questioned. She wanted to clarify the plan. Sometimes she was never quite sure where Callisto was going with things. Her ideas tended to be sporadic sounding, and she had a mind of her own. Goldar warned her not to trust the goddess, but she hadn't led her wrong yet and she hoped that she would prove loyal in the end. Of course she was still a goddess which made her much more powerful and her age made her much wiser than Rhianna was. For all she knew Callisto was waiting to stab her in the back as soon as everything was said and done.

"Of course." Callisto said in a tone that suggested she was an idiot if she thought otherwise. "We still have three rangers left to kill. They will come running once they see us attack and they will be easy targets. After that, the world is yours."

"Mine." Rhianna said wistfully. She couldn't wait to get her hands on Earth. There were so many things she wanted to do. "I want to wear the crown jewels of England." she said aloud, giddy as a schoolgirl.

Callisto cocked her head and looked at her. Sometimes she forgot that the person standing in front of her was still a young girl at heart, one that had been artificially aged. One who also sounded a lot like her mother as that was something she was once excited about doing once she conquered Earth.

"What do you want to do once we have Earth?" Rhianna asked looking at the goddess, who gave her a blank stare in return. "I mean you were a part of all this, I'm sure there's something on Earth I can give you as thanks."

"I want the destruction of the rangers." She said simply. "And if it comes with death, mayhem and chaos, well that's just a bonus." She'd love to be the cause of those pathetic little Earthlings running for their lives. But that would be saved for a rainy day as she had bigger fish to fry.

Callisto smiled as she took a seat and looked out over the Earth. Things were going better than she had hoped for. Soon she'd get the revenge that she'd been wanting for centuries.

* * *

The three males on the Turbo team stood in the Command Chamber. They hadn't moved in almost three hours. They were waiting for some news from Billy, or the arrival of the Nova's, or anything that said things were starting to look better for them.

Nothing was happening yet which left them alone with their thoughts. Each of the boys fretted about the future. As a red ranger Tommy started off worrying more about how they were going to defeat Callisto and Rhianna both this time and permanently. They needed to destroy them sooner rather than later before someone they loved got killed. Of course there wasn't much they could do about it as they waited for Billy to get some answers for them. So Tommy was left to just think about it.

The more he thought about it the more he fretted that they may be too late. That someone they loved, someone he loved may be dead by noon tomorrow. That thought was too unbearable for him. After all they went through it just wasn't fair. They've had two breakups and this last time they came back together stronger than ever. He never thought she'd give him another chance, that he'd let her give him another chance yet they were Tommy and Kim again, almost like nothing every happened.

From the moment he laid eyes on her as a freshman at Angel Grove High, he knew she was someone he could be with forever. She was so beautiful and kind and full of life. Of course it wasn't long after their first encounter that the balance of good and evil started pulling them around, toying with their affections. Looking back, it seemed like the great battle was always there to pull them apart when they got close. The green ranger was just the start of their ups and downs.

Now it feels like the battle has tried to separate them twice in the last two weeks. He thought he was going to lose her in the battle to save the other dimension. She survived, but at what cost? She was going to go through things now that he didn't understand, that he could never understand. That was if she survived this orb, the powers second great interference in their lives together as of late.

He feared that this really could be her end. Time was never on their side, but it was true this time more than ever. As a ranger he knew that the more time went by before hearing from Billy, the less of a chance they would have to get to them and rescue them before they died. By Billy's calculations they had about fifteen hours before the girls were lost to them. He hoped that Billy didn't overestimate, and that there wasn't a point of no return that they didn't know about. After all they were getting their life forces drained, and that was never a good thing.

Tommy let out a sigh as he leaned against a console, glancing briefly over at Rocky. The blue ranger had his arms crossed and a worrisome look on his face that had been there ever since Billy walked off. Rocky's thoughts were similar to Tommy's, although he hadn't concerned himself as much with the future of the planet.

He was more concerned with his girlfriend's safety than that of the planet. He loved her more than anything and he couldn't bear to lose her, not like this. The more he thought about her the more the guilt started settling in. He worried that the last thing he might have done was get into a fight with her. Over Jessica of all people. He wished he could take all that back now, that he could tell her that it was stupid on his part, that he wasn't thinking. He wished she could be here now to forgive him and let him hold her in his arms again. But she wasn't, she was trapped and she was dying and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. And that was the worst feeling of all.

Jason sat behind Rocky and Tommy in a corner, watching there expressions, knowing what they were thinking as he was having some of the same thoughts himself. His sisters were out there somewhere dying. Yes they weren't his blood sisters, but with all they'd been through over the last ten years it certainly felt like it. They were always there for each other through everything, and now there was the very real possibility that they could be lost to him forever. On top of that the entire world that they lived on could be lost. Fortunately Callisto and Rhianna hadn't attacked yet as the Novas were still in route. He still found himself wanting to be the one to get out there and fight the good fight. But Billy was right, he wouldn't be good to anyone dead.

He tried to think things through and find other angles, other ways they could stop the destruction ahead. As he was busy working through scenarios the doors opened and Billy finally stepped back through. "What took you so long?" Jason asked as he was the first to bounce up.

"I have good news and bad news." Billy said ignoring Jason's initial question. He knew everyone was on edge and he wanted to just pass the question over and leave it be.

"Good news first." Tommy said with authority as he stood up and stepped toward Billy. He wasn't sure if he was ready for more bad news at the moment.

"The good news is the girls were easy to trace." Billy said. He had been right, it wasn't hard to follow their energy signal. But once he found them he realized that Callisto was just taunting them. She probably expected him to find them knowing that he could never get to them.

"That's great. How do we rescue them?" Rocky said feeling excited for the first time in hours.

"That's the bad news." Billy said glancing around at all three rangers. "She put the orb in some sort of tangled web of space and time. I've been trying to figure out a way to get through it but I can't come up with anything."

"So you're saying there's no way to reach the orb?" Tommy questioned as Billy shook his head in agreement. "That's not acceptable." He growled. He was not going to give up, not now not when Kim's life was at stake.

"Assuming that you could get into the castle and get to the web without getting yourself killed by one of their minions, it would take days to get through the web. I've examined it from every angle and it's impossible for us to get through it before the orb works its course." Billy explained. It was hard to swallow, he knew it was. But they didn't have the power or ability to maneuver it quickly and that was one harsh reality that he simply could not change. They could try to get through, but in the time it would take them the girls would be long since gone.

"Can't we try? We have to try." Rocky said. He wasn't about to give up that easily. They knew where they were, they could get to them. After all they were the power rangers.

"We could sneak in as Ninjetti's. They wouldn't be able to detect us unless they saw us. Then it's easy. We get to the web and get to work. If we're persistent we can get through it in time." Jason added as he stood firm next to Rocky. He agreed with the blue ranger's sentiments and wasn't about to give up on the female rangers.

"With what we know about getting through the web you may be able to get through a quarter of it before you're out of time. That's if they don't find you and kill you first. We just don't have the ability to get through it quickly." Billy warned. He admired Rocky and Jason's persistence, but what they were talking about was impossible.

Tommy thought for a moment as Jason and Rocky continued to try to come up with ideas that were doomed from the start. Billy was right. They didn't have the power or capability to move through something like that in enough time to rescue the girls. The more he thought about it, the more he thought they knew someone who did.

"Maybe we can get some help." Tommy spoke loudly enough to overshadow the heated debate that the other three were in the middle of.

"What kind of help?" Jason questioned looking at him curiously.

"Billy's right. We can't do it. But we do know someone who knows how to move through the constraints of space and time with ease." Tommy started off looking around at the other rangers. "Kim." He said simply

Jason shook his head no. "What are you talking about? If she had developed any kind of abilities that would get them out of there I'm sure she would have figured a way out by now."

"Not our Kim. K." He said using the name that they referred to the alternate Kim by.

"You think she's powerful enough to do it?" Rocky questioned feeling hopeful once more.

Tommy nodded. Just from their brief encounter in the other dimension he could tell that K was powerful and very good at what she did. If anyone could break through and get to the orb before it was too late, it was her.

"Kim still has that communications crystal." Jason pointed out although he figured Tommy was well aware of that already.

"I'll go get the crystal and contact her. See if she'll help." Tommy said. He watched as the others nodded at him before he hit the button on his communicator and teleported off.

* * *

Jason and Rocky stood in the Command Chamber anxiously waiting for word from Tommy. Almost a half an hour had passed with no news of whether or not K would be willing to help.

"He should've been back by now." Rocky pointed out. He was feeling the stress of the situation and didn't think he could wait much longer to find out if she was going to lend them a hand.

"Maybe he's having a hard time persuading her." Jason said with a shrug. Although K certainly did owe them a lot for what they did for her and he couldn't imagine her not wanting to help them.

Rocky sighed. "I just wish they'd hurry up and"

He never finished his sentence as the alarms started blaring throughout the Command Chamber. They rushed to the controls and quickly pulled up the disturbance. "They're back." Jason said crossing his arms over his chest as he could do nothing but watch the havoc they were creating on the surface.

"Where are the Nova's?" Rocky questioned. They should've been there by now. They hadn't let them know they had arrived and they didn't appear to be jumping up to protect Earth.

"I don't know." Jason replied as he watched citizens run for their lives. "But I'm going down as a Ninjetti. Try to throw them off."

"I'm going with you." Rocky said. He couldn't stand by and watch all that was going on in their town without doing something about it. As they were getting ready to transform, he saw seven multicolored figures run out onto the scene. "Wait." he said as he stopped to look at them. "Those must be the Nova's."

They were obviously a Power Ranger team, and not one from Earth as neither man recognized the uniforms. Which left only one plausible explanation, that the Nova's had finally arrived.

"They're good fighters." Jason pointed out. Tommy was right to call them, as even though the Cirranadrones and monster they sent down were tough the Nova's appeared to be handling it.

"It seems as though their powers are holding up." Rocky added saying aloud what Jason had been thinking.

"Yeah." Jason said absentmindedly. The more he thought about it the more he thought about how hard it was for them not to have powers that were strong enough. It left him with nothing to do but sit on the sidelines and he didn't like that at all.

At least for the moment it seems as though Earth is in good hands. The Nova's were fighting hard and Cirranadrones were disappearing. The red and green rangers were starting to take on Cratus and Goldar while the black and blue rangers were working on the monster. After a while the remainder of the Cirranadrones disappeared and the white, yellow and pink rangers went to help their comrades fight against the monster.

Much like anytime they'd ever fought the duo, after a while they could see Cratus and Goldar get angry and exchange words with the red and green rangers. After some lame attempts at parting blows, both took off. The red and green rangers went to join the rest of their team and using their combined powers, it wasn't long before they took care of the monster.

The team of Nova rangers stood around for a moment before disappearing from view. A few seconds later they reappeared in front of the two Turbo rangers. Jason and Rocky spun to face them. "Thank you for coming to help us." Jason spoke to the red ranger.

They watched as the rangers powered down and the leader spoke. "Callisto and Rhianna are just as great of enemies to us as they are to you." Elemi replied. "Where is Tommy?" he questioned feeling as though he should be dealing with the highest ranking ranger.

"Off on a mission." Jason replied declining to elaborate. He didn't like the look the red ranger was giving him. Both he and Rocky were former reds and more than capable of being in charge in this situation. "I'm Jason, this is Rocky. We're Turbo rangers."

"I'm Elemi." he replied as he gestured to the other rangers standing around him. "This is the Nova team. Garan, Jaxan, Aaron, Pryce, Xemmas and Kee."

"So what would you like us to do now?" Garan asked glancing at the two rangers of Earth standing before them.

"We have to wait for their next move." Rocky replied. He didn't like the idea of waiting anymore than the Nova rangers looked like they liked it. But all they were able to do was sit around and see what Callisto and Rhianna were going to do next.

* * *

Tommy arrived in the house that Kim shared with Carri. His first task was to find the communications crystal that K and left them with. It couldn't have been too hard, after all how many places could Kim have stashed it in.

He started with the obvious location first, Kim's room. He searched through doors and closets, the night tables and around the beds and came up empty. He went out and searched through the kitchen and the living room thoroughly before coming up with the same results. He sighed and looked around. The only two rooms left were Carri's bedroom and the office.

He found himself feeling less intrusive about searching through Carri's office first. Going through her bedroom was a last resort, although he knew she wouldn't get angry if he did and frankly since Kim's life was hanging in the balance he didn't give a damn if she did get mad at him.

The red ranger walked into the office and started to look around. He went through the desk and the file cabinets and even glanced into the closet to look for the communications crystal. He was about to give up when something in the closet caught his eye.

It was well hidden, and to the untrained human eye it would never be seen. But to a master ranger like himself it couldn't be missed. There was a safe hanging in the closet, one that had been masked by intergalactic magic to keep intruders away. But the way the light gleaming through the windows bent around it, there was no mistaking it was there.

As he approached the safe it sensed the power of his coin and it revealed himself. It was locked, but it wasn't hard to figure out what kind of key it took. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his power coin, placing it in the center of the safe. The coin clicked into place and the safe popped open, revealing the contents inside.

At the forefront of the safe sat a box. One Tommy had heard of before but never seen in person. It was the box that held the Planetary Powers. Curiosity got the best of him as he wanted to look inside. But he knew of the box's power and of the legend behind it, and knew that the only person it would open for was the woman whose life he was trying to save.

He pushed the box out of the way and found some other things in the safe. One of which was a small white pouch. He lifted it out and peaked inside. There staring back at him was the red communications crystal K left Kim with. Tommy let out a sigh of relief. It had taken more than a half an hour to find it but there it was. Now he could get the help he needed.

Tommy shut the safe and heard it lock as his coin fell out into his hands. He tucked it back into his pocket and walked away, the wall safe disappearing behind him. As he headed out into the living room he prayed he could get it to work. After all it was more meant for Kim to contact K, not him. But if there was ever a time for his connection to Kim to mean something, now was it.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember what K said about using the crystal to signal for her. He stood up and opened his eyes and there was nothing. A wave of disappointment fell over him as he thought of how he should try again. Upon taking a deep breath, a red glow appeared in front of him and K stood before him.

"It didn't take you guys that long to need me." she pointed out upon arrival as she glanced over Tommy. She doubted they'd called her to reminisce, so needing her couldn't be a good thing. And since she had given the crystal to Kim who wasn't the one to call her, which really couldn't be good.

"We've got a situation. And you're the only one we know who might be able to help." Tommy said as he crossed his arms and looked her over. It was hard to stand here with her like this. She was Kim. Not his Kim, but still Kim. It reminded him of how much he needed and wanted his Kim, and how she was dying.

"Go on." Kim said waiting for him to get to the explanation.

"Kim and Carri have been captured in some sort of containment orb. Their life force is draining. We know where they are but we can't get to the orb because Callisto wrapped it in some sort of time space web." Tommy said quickly giving an explanation.

Kim sighed. She could see the pain on Tommy's face as he spoke about it. Orb's like that were powerful and could kill quickly. If their goddess has them wrapped up then they were right to call her for help. "How much time do they have?" She questioned.

"A little less than fourteen hours." Tommy replied.

She nodded toward him. That should be enough time for her to get in and get the orb. "Where do you need me to go?"

"Billy has the exact location. We can get it from him in the Command Chamber." Tommy replied.

She glanced over at him as he stood there looking at her. "What are we waiting for?"

Tommy watched as she teleported herself away before quickly teleporting out behind her.

* * *

Elemi sat in the main room of the Command Chamber finding himself getting more frustrated by the minute. He has yet to be able to do either of the things he set out to do. Callisto and Rhianna had yet to be defeated, and the rangers of Earth weren't concerned with making any offensive battle plans. He didn't like the idea of them surprising with an attack and the rangers having no official strategy to defeat them. He had given the rangers of Earth more credit as Kim was always on her toes working on the next step toward victory.

Kim was his second reason for rushing to Earth, and was the other thing that was being treated passively. They wouldn't give him any details, only that they were working on it. If he was in charge he would have a team looking for the orb to bring it back. He couldn't see her taken from this life like that. He wouldn't let it happen.

He tried to think of anything he could do when a red glow appeared in the center of the room and melted away to the woman he loved. "Kim!" he exclaimed as he started to go toward her

She held a hand up to stop him. "I'm not who you think I am." she replied. She wished that Tommy had told her that the Nova rangers were here. She didn't think this Kim had the same history with Elemi that she did but one look told her that the red Nova ranger was still fixated with her.

"Then who are you?" Elemi asked just as Tommy teleported in.

"You can call me K." She said as she put her hand back down by her side. "I'm a Kim from another dimension."

"What are you doing here?" Elemi questioned looking at K curiously.

"I asked her here to help." Tommy said with authority as he walked over and stood next to K. She was doing him a favor and he certainly didn't want her to get drilled by Elemi.

Kim tried hard not to smile. It annoyed her when Tommy acted the macho red and tried to stand up for her and something's never changed no matter what world you were on. "So what's been going on here?" She asked trying to change topics and figure out why this team had asked for the assistance of the Nova Rangers.

"There was an attack." Jason spoke up from the back. All eyes turned toward him. "Kim was right about other powers being strong enough. The Nova powers can combat Callisto and Rhianna. Billy's still trying to work on getting our powers back."

Kim nodded. Things were starting to make sense. Their powers were gone and they had turned to the strongest team they could think of. If the time line's were as similar as she thought they were, there would've been no other active teams on Earth that were free to help and they would have had to turn to a team from elsewhere in the galaxy.

"So where do we go from here?" Kee asked softly from the back.

"Kim's going to go rescue the others." Tommy said as he started to hand out orders. "The rest of us will wait and see what Callisto and Rhianna are going to do."

"We'll wait from the Enzway." Elemi replied as he looked over at the red Turbo ranger. At least from his ship he could try and see if there was anything he could do. But he couldn't wait around in this Command Chamber anymore. "We'll keep an eye on Earth and return at the first sign of trouble." He assured them.

"Fine." Tommy replied not in any mood to argue. The Nova team teleported out and he turned toward K. "Let's go find Billy."

He and Kim walked off with Jason and Rocky close behind him. They headed into one of the surrounding labs and found him hard at work. Billy looked up when he heard them enter and smiled when he saw K standing with them. "Thank you for coming to help."

"Anytime." She said figuring it was the least she could do after all they did for them. "So where do I need to go?"

Billy walked over toward one of the panels and started searching through the database. He quickly puled up a loose map of the castle. Noone had been inside the castle to get the exact layout, but from satellite and infrared they had a slight idea. "As best we can tell the web that the orb is encased in is here." he said pointing toward a spot on the map. "Their defensive systems won't allow direct teleportation without automatically alerting them of our presence, although you may be able to get through."

"I'll play it safe." Kim replied. She didn't want to risk tripping the alarms and making a huge battle of it when it would be easier to sneak in. "I can teleport there." she said as she pointed to a spot on the map. "And sneak in through there. It shouldn't be too hard to get to them after that." She said as she traced her route with her finger

"I concur." Billy replied. That would be the easiest way for Kim to get through hopefully undetected. "Do you have enough time to get them out?"

"Let's hope so." If Billy's calculations were right she had approximately thirteen hours. That should be enough, but one could never be sure.

"Are you ready?" Tommy asked looking over at her.

"As ready as I'm going to be." She replied as she transported herself to her spot just outside of the castle. She thought for a moment before she entered. If she was going to get caught, she certainly didn't want to get caught as herself. She called for her Phaedosian staff and watched as it arrived in her hands, her body transforming into her leather outfit. She smiled to herself as she entered the castle. At least now any unplanned encounters with any goddesses would direct more anger towards Kemora and not herself.

* * *

Callisto stood in the throne room throwing fireball after fireball at what she considered useless Cirranadrones. She could see nothing past the rage in her heart and wanted desperately to destroy something.

"Callisto." Rhianna said, watching as the goddess stopped to hiss at her before continuing. "Destroying our army isn't going to do any good."

Callisto spun around toward her, fireball in hand. "Sending them against those Nova Rangers isn't going to do any good either." She replied with a half a mind to use the fireball to blow away the useless offspring of Rita and Zedd. After all she wasn't coming into her powers as fast as she thought she would and that wasn't doing Callisto a whole hell of a lot of good.

Goldar was quick to stand next to Rhianna, ready to protect her from Callisto's wrath. "Perhaps we can create more Cirranadrones and more monsters. If we overwhelm those Nova rangers the Turbos will have to come and fight."

Callisto turned toward him and contemplated for a moment throwing the fireball at him. He had been around for ages and she knew for a fact that he really was useless. He had never destroyed a ranger and spent most of his time screwing up Lord Zedd and Rita's orders before graveling at their feet. She started thinking about his words then slowly the size of the fireball shrank until she allowed it to disappear completely. "How long would it take to build an army like that?"

"A few hours." Rhianna said. She saw the anger in the goddess's face and she quickly continued. "But the Nova's won't do anything, the men are still without powers and they can't rescue their friends."

Callisto crossed her arms and glared at her. She had yet to decided if this was acceptable or not but she supposed she had no choice. "Alright. Start making monsters and Cirranadrones. But I want them to be the best. I will not accept failure in this battle. It should be an easy victory." At the very least they should be able to kill off the rest of the Turbo team. That would make her feel a little bit better.

She caught Cratus bow to her out of the corner of his eye as he scurried off. Goldar grunted and followed close behind while Rhianna grabbed her staff and joined them to help make monsters.

Callisto sighed and took a seat in the throne after they left. One would think revenge would be easier. She'd be damned if she went through all this for it to fall apart now. Of course it was quite possible that she'd be able to kill two birds with one stone. She could destroy those Turbo rangers and take out another major target in the Nova's without having to work too hard for it. Then she could concentrate on other things. She smiled to herself as she thought how this might work out after all.

* * *

Kim worked her way through the corridors of the castle looking for the location of the web. Billy's map hadn't been precise, and she had come to some areas she wasn't expecting. So far she hadn't run into any trouble.

At one point she had heard someone and hid. It had been Goldar that walked past her, muttering something about hating to do Callisto's bidding. Kim assumed that they were getting ready for the next battle. She had that on her side. As long as they were concentrating on battle, they wouldn't be concentrating on looking for her.

She continued to weave around the castle trying her best to stay hidden as she came closer and closer to the spot in question. She finally approached the closed door that she assumed led to the room that the girls were being held in. Kim tiptoed over to the door and cracked it open, quickly slipping inside and shutting it behind her.

One look around was all she needed to tell where she was. The walls of the quarters screamed Olympian goddess. They were always so full of themselves and wanted their surroundings to reflect that as they kept tributes to themselves and mementos of past conquest and victories. It was fitting that she had stashed the orb in her quarters. She wouldn't have been surprised if the goddess was planning on keeping the orb with the two rangers lifeless bodies around as a prize.

It wasn't hard to find access to the web that Callisto had created. Kim couldn't help but be slightly impressed, she had done a good job at keeping intruders out. It would have taken the rangers days if not weeks to maneuver their way around and get to the orb. Luckily for them she had some experience moving through space and time. It was still going to take her a few hours to sort through it all and get in and out. With a sigh she got started on the project in front of her, hoping she could get to them on time.

* * *

Morning was rolling around and the three remaining Turbo rangers found themselves fighting sleep in the Command Center. Their bodies were all more than ready to shut down for some rest but their mind's wouldn't let them close their eyes. They wouldn't be able to get any sleep until they were at peace, and there would be no peace until the situation at hand was resolved.

They were getting more than a little anxious. It was just past six in the morning, which meant they had less than six hours to rescue the girls. There had been no word from K since she left, and they weren't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. They assumed that had she been captured Callisto would have already come around to gloat. To make sure they knew that their only hope had failed and that the girls would die.

Strangely Callisto hadn't been around at all since early that night. They hoped that was a good sign, but they could never be sure. Hopefully it meant that the Nova's scared off their forces and that they weren't going to attack again as long as they had that team watching their backs. Of course it could be the exact opposite. They could be planning something so evil it was beyond the rangers comprehension. Either way they wanted to know.

Rocky sighed rather loudly and the other two rangers turned toward him. "Do you think K's alright?"

"Let's hope so." Tommy replied. "If this web was as complex as Billy thought it was, it was still going to take her a few hours to get around it." He was trying to assure both his teammates and himself that everything was going to be ok. He had to admit that it was more than a little nerve racking. He had silently thought about how he wasn't going to let Kim die. K had great power, she could manipulate time. He could as her to go back before the girls attacked and warn them not to do it.

That was what the lover in him was telling him to do. The ranger in him said it was a bad idea. That you can't change the time line, that everything happens for a reason. That even though K had the ability to do that, she probably wouldn't. She knew better than to manipulate time for his own selfish reasons. He knew what the consequences could be to their future if he did that, it would be the butterfly effect. He'd seen it before. He also had a feeling that there would be worse consequences for K from powers that he had yet to comprehend. At the same time he wanted to say to hell with it all to have his Kim back. He hoped more than anything that K would be successful and that it wouldn't come down to that.

"She's had six hours." Jason pointed out snapping Tommy out of his thoughts. "It can't take much more than that, or we're in trouble."

"I know." Tommy replied. As he looked around the room the alarms went off. The three rangers jumped up and headed over to see what the disturbance was.

"Shit." Jason said with feeling as they looked over the scene in the park. Goldar and Cratus were back, and they had brought with them a wave of Cirranadrones and several monsters. Not to mention Callisto and Rhianna had joined the fight.

"Is there anything we can do?" Rocky questioned. The question was more rhetorical as they all knew the answer to it. Their options were to stay put or die fighting. Neither option was satisfactory. They all stood there and glanced at one another as the Nova rangers arrived. They all were sharing a thought that noone cared to speak. If the Nova's did poorly, if they needed help and Angel Grove was in trouble, worthy powers or not they were going to go fight.

They all stood together as the scene in front of them unfolded. The Nova's spread their forces thin and started to attack. The monsters were strong and the forces of evil were coming at them from all directions. They were holding up alright for the moment but there was no telling how much longer they could do this. The rangers needed a solution and they needed it now.

* * *

Billy sat in his lab working on the new source of powers for the rangers. It was harder than he thought it was going to be and it had managed to give him quite a headache. He knew it would come to this eventually and he had slowly been working toward this as a possible solution. But with the attacks he had no choice, he had to go with this idea.

As he worked on the final calibrations he was starting to feel a tad bit nervous. He wished that he'd had a chance to test the morphers. He wasn't even sure they were going to work. And if they did he could only hope that they had the projected effect. But with everything that had been going on, they were just going to have to take their morphers and go, all the while hoping for the best. He shouldn't have been worried, the idea was solid in theory. But a theory was just that and it was never guaranteed to pan out right.

While he continued to put the finishing touches on the new morphers, he couldn't help as his thoughts drifted around a little. He thought about how the last few weeks had been a whirlwind of activity. About how worlds had been in danger, rangers had been in danger, and he was right in the middle of it helping out. It almost made him wish that he could be a ranger again. He missed his ranger days. He did have his Ninjetti powers, but they weren't the same. His body had been changed so drastically by his own machine that he would never be able to harness true morphin power again. He was lucky enough just to be alive at this point. If it weren't for his friends on Aquitar he wouldn't be here.

For a brief second he recalled his friends on Aquitar and let out a small laugh. He wouldn't exactly call them his friends now. His ex-girlfriend was there. She was the biggest disaster of his life. The former Aquitarian rangers were there. They still communicated once in a while. But he would hardly call them friends. His grievances with them so many years ago had changed that friendship. After a year of working closely with them, helping them in all matters of science, they rewarded him by treating him like an old dog whose presence was becoming more of a nuisance than anything.

It turned out alright though. It drove him back to Earth, which was the best decision of his life. He got his wife Trini out of that. He also got the opportunity to work with the rangers again. And because of connections he made while on Aquitar, he was more up to date on intergalactic technology in his Command Chamber than the Aquitarians were. He was even slowly able to bring some of that intergalactic technology to Earth systems through his work as he infused what he knew with what they had.

As he put the final touches on the morphers, they came to life pulling him out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand. Whether or not they were ready, it was time to put them into action. He scooped up the five morphers off the table and headed out of his lab, quickly making his way back to the main room where the rangers were hopefully still waiting for him.

When he entered the three male rangers turned toward him, and it was more than obvious what they were getting ready to do. "Wait!" Billy exclaimed. He watched as they each clinched their keys, ready to morph at a moment's notice.

"The Nova's need help. We're going to give it to them. We can't risk the planet." Tommy said. It was a simple decision to make. They each were aware that it would put their lives at risk and yet none of them cared about that. The most important thing was that the city wasn't destroyed and that their world didn't succumb to Callisto and Rhianna.

"Then you can help them with these." Billy said as he clanked the morphers down on the solid surface of the end of one of the control panels. "Your new morphers."

"New morphers?" Tommy questioned looking over them. They were definitely new yet they still looked vaguely familiar. "That's not going to work. Zordon said"

"Zordon said that the morphing grid the coins were connected to was destroyed. And it was. These morphers are connected to a different grid, an older grid that holds more power." Billy explained. He knew they'd be skeptical, and they had every right to. There was no reason to believe that they could harness the full power of their power coins.

"Those powers can't stand up to their forces." Rocky said. Power coins were one of the first sources of powers they used, and they've fought more difficult foes with different powers since then.

"Power coins can create a strong set of powers. They certainly have the same capability that the Nova's powers do. It took a lot of research but I finally found a grid that I could create morphers for, morphers that would utilize the powers of the coins much like your old morphers did. In fact this grid is a stronger grid and it's going to make your powers stronger than before." Billy told them. He wasn't sure if they understood that this was the best, the only solution. And they were just going to have to trust him and cross their fingers that he was right.

"What about weapons and zords?" Jason questioned. If they were going to try and use their power coins again so be it. They just needed to figure out what they had and move on.

"I kept your old Ninja Zeo zords. I've been working on recalibrating them to work with your power coins, as well as upgrading their powers and abilities." Billy started. As their power coins were still connected to their animal spirits, it made more sense to keep the perfectly good old zords and reformat them to be their new zords. "As for weapons, you'll have your old weapons. Well in a sense. As the white ranger, Tommy will regain control of Saba. Rocky will have the power sword and Jason the power axe. The sword, axe, daggers and bow will function similarly to what they did when you had them as Ninja Zeo rangers, only all influence of the Zeo crystal will have been removed. They'll still have the same powers and abilities."

Billy let that sink in for a minute before he continued. "As there's no blue ranger coin, there's no power lance so you can't combine the five weapons into one. But you can call on the power cannon." he finished as he picked up the morphers and handed them out. "You guys can put your coins in the morphers and head down to battle. I'm going to go work on your zords."

Tommy took his morpher first. His power coin slid easily into place. The look of the morphers differed slightly but the feel did not. Holding that in his hand gave him flashbacks of his youth as the power surged through his body. He looked at the others. It was time to do this. "It's morphin time!" He yelled. "White ranger power!"

"Red ranger power!"

"Black ranger power!"

The three rangers were teleported immediately to the center of the action. Elemi looked at them curiously as he wasn't sure what to think. He didn't think the power coins could be used at full power again yet here they were.

"We thought you could use a hand." Tommy said with a smile as he grabbed Saba off his hip and jumped into the center of the action. It felt great to be on the surface doing some good instead of locked up in the Command Chamber watching the action.

Jason and Rocky were quick to follow suite, calling for their weapons and joining in on the action as well. The fight was still difficult as three rangers weren't the ultimate solution, but it was certainly better than before.

Callisto looked on as three new warriors entered the scene. She was more than a little furious to see that they were wrapped in the uniforms that the power coins provided. Long ago Astronema assured her that she was going to make those power coins even more useless than they already were. She assumed that she'd succeed. After all there hadn't been a surge from a coin in ages.

That obviously wasn't the case and the goddess's anger rose until she started rapidly firing fireballs at anything that moved. Beings both good and evil were scattering to get out of the way before they were turned into nothing more than a pile of ash. Her warriors tried to steer clear of her fury but several of the Cirranadrones were lost in the flames. Just as she thought the mission couldn't get any more screwed up, she was sent an alert signal from the castle. Someone was moving her orb out of the web.

In a fit of rage she let out a scream that had all warriors on the battlefield both good and evil turning to look at her. With a wave of her hand she was gone and in seconds she was standing in her quarters. "You." She spat as Kemora of all beings emerged with her orb.

Kim turned, startled to see the goddess there. She quickly shifted her persona, smiling at the goddess with her staff in one hand and the orb in the other. "I can see I didn't send you away long enough the last time. I'll just have to try again."

As Kim lifted her staff Callisto maneuvered behind her, fireball in hand. Kim spun around and saw the goddess standing there with her fireball too close to her face for comfort. "I won't be taken that easily again." She growled before smiling sweetly at Kim. "This day may turn out alright after all. I get to watch them die and I get to take out my revenge on you without searching for you." Kemora irritated her to no end and for her to be standing here in front of her with her orb, well she was lucky she hadn't already thrown a fireball in her face. "Now give me the orb and I'll make it quick and painless for you."

"No." Kim said sharply as she took her staff and used it to push some distance in between them.

"Tell me what would you want with two dying rangers?" Callisto asked as curiosity got the best of her. She couldn't imagine what pleasure Kemora would have in taking them.

"I need a new body and the power this Kimberly has is ripe for the taking. She'll be perfect for me." Kim replied smiling as her eyes glowed red.

Callisto laughed for a moment before moving quickly. "Too bad they're not yours." She said as with a swift kick the orb flew out of Kim's hand and onto the floor.

Kim quickly used her staff to attack Callisto, sending her flying backwards before she could reach the orb. The goddess moved just as Kim fired an energy burst with her staff, barely missing her. Callisto used her power to slam Kim against the wall then made a move for the orb. Kim pulled herself to her feet and rushed to get there before she did. As Callisto dove for her treasure, it was teleported off in a flash of light. Kim and Callisto looked at each other, both surprised at what just happened. Kim didn't waste any time teleporting herself out and back to the Command Chamber.

She looked over at Billy as she sent her staff away and transformed back into her normal attire. "How did you get the orb?"

"I had set the scanners to search the castle while I was working. You showed up on the scanners, along with Callisto and the orb. I figured it best to teleport the orb out. I wasn't worried about tripping the sensors." He said with a smile as he took the orb and set it down, running scans on it. "Now I don't suppose you know how to get them out of there."

"The same way they got in." Kim said as she lifted the orb off the table. She held it high above her head and with a surge of power she slammed it to the ground. The orb disintegrated and laying on the floor were the pink and yellow rangers.

"Help me get them to the med beds." Billy said. Kim nodded her head yes and the duo lifted the girls up and got them situated. Billy quickly hooked them up to medical equipment and stood back while it ran its initial checks on them.

A few seconds later the results came in. Their life signs were weak but there. They could still be saved which was exactly what Billy intended on doing. He hooked them up to several different machines and started programing them, allowing them to do their work. As they ran their course he headed out to the main room and checked on the fight.

"They're not doing so well." Kim pointed out as she walked into the room behind Billy and observed the fight.

"They're doing much better than before." Billy promised her. They at least had a chance to win now. They were still on pins and needles but the small army had yet to break into the city and that was a good thing.

"They'll do better once the girls join them." Kim said absentmindedly.

Billy turned toward her. He hadn't even thought about giving the girls morphers yet. "I don't know if they can. They're going to be weak for a while."

"The power will revive them, at least for a little while." Kim reminded him.

"It will be risky. What if they get hurt?" Billy asked. Too many blows and they wouldn't be strong enough to stand up and fight anymore, not after what they just went through.

"Do you think they care? They're adults, it's their choice and once they find out what's going on they're going to jump right back onto that battlefield." Kim knew that she would fight the good fight until it killed her. It almost did. And she knew Carri, well her Carri, and she knew that she was in it until the end as well. Neither would think twice about jumping into the fight no matter how weak they were.

"Maybe." Billy said still unsure if that was the right idea.

Kim chuckled softly. "If you don't give them morphers to join the team, they'll just take their Planetary powers and go out on their own."

Billy smiled and nodded. She was right. He'd have to let them know what was going on and give them the chance to join the ranger team with their new powers. He scooped up the remaining two morphers and stuck them in his pocket. He turned his attention back toward the fight. K was right. They were going to need two full teams to defeat the army that stood before them.

With a sigh he turned and headed back to the infirmary to see how the girls were doing. One glance told him that their life signs were picking back up. He looked from one bed to the other and saw that they were slowly regaining consciousness. Kim's eyes were the first to flutter open and she started to focus in on the figure standing in front of her. "Billy?" She questioned smiling over at him. "You saved us?"

"She did." Billy replied with a smile pointing back at K.

"Thank you." Kim said as she tried to sit up.

"Careful." Billy warned as she struggled to get situated among the maze of machines. "You're not going to be at full strength for a while so you'll have to go slow."

"I'm ok." Kim assured him. Billy went over to her and helped her sit up while getting some of his equipment out of the way. Looking next to her she saw Carri starting to stir.

"We made it?" she questioned with disbelief as she opened her eyes and tried to look around. Being stuck in that orb she really thought it was going to be the end.

"We were rescued." Kim said as she pointed toward K.

"Oh." Carri said as she slowly propped herself up on her elbows and looked at K. "Thanks."

"Anytime." She replied flashing Carri a smile.

"Where is everybody?" Carri questioned as Billy came over to help her up and finish removing all of her medical equipment.

"In battle. Callisto and Rhianna attacked full force." Billy said nonchalantly. He was hoping that they wouldn't want to rush right out and help. As Carri jumped to her feet with her hand on the medical bed to steady herself, he realized he should know better.

"Without powers? Whatever." She said with a shrug. "It doesn't matter. I'm in. I've got some goddess ass to kick."

"Me too." Kim quickly agreed jumping down as well.

"No one said they were fighting without powers." Billy said with a smile as he tossed them each a morpher.

The girls looked them over. Both knew exactly what they were, one from her own use of the older model and one from seeing something similar in the Power Chamber. "That's impossible we don't have a grid." Carri was quick to point out

Carri didn't notice as Kim tensed up for a brief moment, the oddest sensation flowing through her. "We do have a grid." she said looking down at the morpher in her hand. "I can feel it. I felt it. For a second." She continued glancing briefly at K who nodded at her.

"So", Carri started pulling her coin out of her pocket and tucking it neatly into the center of the morpher "If these things work what are we waiting for?"

Kim nodded as she couldn't agree more. "It's morphin time!" She yelled as both girls thrust their morphers into action.

"Pink ranger power!"

"Yellow ranger power!"

"Be careful." Billy tried to warn but it was too late as the pink and yellow streaks were already on their way to battle. He walked into another lab so he could continue to work on their zords and weapons in case they needed them.

K followed close behind him. As the door shut and Billy sat down she spoke. "As much as I'd like to stay and say goodbye to everyone, I should probably get out of here before Callisto figures out exactly what happened. I'd like to keep her thinking that I'm Kemora."

Billy chuckled. "I don't blame you." He replied as he stood and turned to face her. "Thank you for all your help. I don't know what we would've done without you."

"It was my pleasure." K replied flashing him a smile. "Tell Kim if she ever needs me again not to be afraid to call." She added. God knows she still felt like she still owed her with what happened on her home world. With a red glow K was gone and Billy sat down in his chair and turned back toward his work.

* * *

The morphed pink and yellow rangers arrived on the scene feeling refreshed and invigorated from a combination of the new powers and the power boost. They quickly surveyed the battlefield. Both were surprised by the Nova's presence, however the more Kim thought about it the more she thought that it made sense for Tommy to contact them.

Neither dwelled on it long as they both called for their weapons before separating and running into battle. Kim, seeing that the Cirranadrones were amply covered went to the one area where they looked like they needed help, the monster battle. Rocky and Jason were trying to take on three monsters which wasn't going so well, as the third monster kept escaping to attack the Nova's who were fighting against the Cirranadrones.

Leaping high into the air she shot streams of arrows at the third monster, sending it backwards and landing with a thud next to its two friends. Kim landed in between Jason and Rocky, who looked over at her in amazement. "Kim? You're alive?" Jason questioned. That was the best news he'd heard all day.

"And ready to kick some monster ass." She added as she stared down Rhianna's newest strange set of creations.

"And Carri?" Rocky asked the excitement showing through in his voice.

Kim took her bow and waved it in the general direction of the rest of the action. "She's over there somewhere."

"So which of these creeps do you want?" Jason asked as both of the male rangers suddenly felt rejuvenated.

"I'll stick with Stay Puft Cat." Kim said referencing the monster she zapped earlier. She was amused by it as someone in the palace had been watching too much TV and had decided on a cross between the Ghostbuster's Stay Puft marshmallow man and Alice's Cheshire cat.

The trio raised their weapons and ran to attack the monsters while their friends were doing much of the same across the battlefield.

While Kim had run toward the monsters, Carri had taken a different direction. Power daggers in hand she initially ran toward the spot where Rhianna stood, which was in between the battles that the red rangers were facing. Goldar had immediately ran to attack Tommy with a decade's worth of pent up anger, while Elemi ran to attack Cratus. The two were holding their own and Carri thought she'd take out some frustration on the one of the heads of the operation. As she clicked her daggers together another figure appeared beside Rhianna, one Carri would much rather take her frustrations out on.

The moment Callisto was solidly on the ground she was hit by a rather nasty attack and thrown back, courtesy of the yellow ranger. She started to stand up and saw the yellow ranger hovering over her.

"Sorry to disappoint Calli but you just can't get rid of me that easily." She said and with a swift kick to the chin she sent a surprised goddess flying back and onto the ground once more

Callisto banged her fist on the ground out of frustration. Not only were Kim and Carri not dead but they were here fighting with new powers that weren't supposed to exist. If that wasn't bad enough it was Kemora who rescued them for her own selfish purposes which allowed the rangers to teleport the orb to safety. Kemora, the witch that had sent her to the Island of Illusion to begin with. Before she could even fathom getting her revenge Kemora had disappeared off of her sensors.

The once promising day had quickly turned into a total loss. "I wouldn't be so confidant if I was you." Callisto said as she stood. "Until next time." She hissed as with a wave of her hand she was gone.

Carri turned toward Rhianna, who upon noticing her comrade's departure took off as well. "Easy enough." She said as she ran toward the Nova's in an effort to finish off the rest of the Cirranadrones, which had become much easier now that all three monsters were occupied.

The monsters were finding the rangers to be a handful as they ducked and dodged their attacks all the while firing off powerful ones of their own. If that wasn't bad enough the three were taking turns blasting each other's monster when it wasn't looking.

Of course one ranger wasn't enough to defeat a single monster and the battle was looking to be never ending. Kim blasted her monster and rolled off, ending several feet away with her pistol in one hand and her bow in the other. Quickly she put the pistol back in it's holster and pulled the bow up to fire. As she did she caught someone beside her out of the corner of her eye.

"A marshmallow cat?" Carri asked as she arrived next to her friend, fresh from finishing off the Cirranadrones.

The arrows left Kim's bow before she turned toward her friend. "I like to call him Stay Puft Cat." She said as the arrows made contact with him. Looking around she saw that the majority of the Nova team was now running to join the monster fight.

"Gotcha. So how do we melt Stay Puft Cat?" Carri asked wanting to end this sooner rather than later. As she spoke the three monsters grouped together and the rest of the rangers grouped around them.

"How about we hit them with everything we've got?" Tommy suggested as he and Elemi ran in to join their battle. Goldar and Cratus had finally given up and disappeared, leaving them only the three monsters to defeat.

Elemi nodded in agreement. "With our combined powers it should be enough to blow them to pieces."

The two reds quickly took their spot at the front of the group. The teams of rangers pulled out every weapon they had in their possession and on their leader's command they fired at the trio of monsters. As predicted they couldn't stand up to that kind of firepower and they all exploded. From high above the moon Rhianna raised her staff to make her monsters grow. Unfortunately as Rhianna was still a novice, the remains of the three monsters merged into one as they grew to tower above the city.

"So is this the Stay Puft Fuzzy Scarecrow Golden Horse Cat?" Carri questioned trying to combine the three previous monsters into one.

Jason rolled his eyes at her from under his helmet. "Whatever it is, we need to make short work of it."

Billy's voice rang through Tommy's communicator loud and clear. "Guys I have a set of Ninja Zords for you to use."

"We're on it." Tommy replied. The Nova's stepped back to allow the rangers of Earth to finish the battle as Tommy called for their new Ninja Zords.

As the zords barreled toward them and they each jumped into their cockpits, they quickly realized Billy was right. Not much had changed about them since the last time they'd used them. They were definitely upgraded, and removed of any connection they had to the old zeo zords. They seemed a bit flashier than they remembered, but as they got into the fight they quickly realized they operated with more force than before and that was the most important thing.

The rangers briefly tested out the powers of their individual zords before combining to create the megazord, which Rhianna's hodgepodge of a monster stood no chance against. One swipe of the megazord's saber brought the monster down for good. With the monster defeated and Callisto and Rhianna's army gone, it was time to return to the Command Chamber.

* * *

The rangers arrived back in their Command Chamber where the Nova's were already powered down and waiting for them. As they teleported in they powered down as well and found themselves staring at the Nova rangers.

Kim was the first to step forward. "Thank you from all of us for all you've done here." she said doing the best to be the diplomatic red ranger. She knew with Elemi standing there in front of her that was going to be hard. He had fallen for her during their time in space together. It had been more than a little awkward as for a while he tried to pursue her solely based on the power they would have as a couple. But as he watched her, learned from her, she could see him change to someone who cared less about power and more about the greater good. He started to pursue her affections more romantically. Although Kim enjoyed his company and appreciated his efforts, she continually turned him down all the while he continued to hold her on a pedestal.

Elemi nodded before stepping out to meet her. "Of course. We're just grateful that Earth is save and you're alive." He said before embracing her in a hug.

Kim shouldn't have been surprised by his gesture. She put her arms around him for a moment, then he squeezed her a little harder and lingered a little longer than he should have. As he let her go, he grabbed her arms, gliding his hands down them until her hands were in his. "Anytime you need help don't hesitate to call."

"We won't Elemi. Thank you again." She said flashing him a smile. The moment was more than a little awkward.

She hadn't been the only one who thought the moment was weird as Tommy's eyes had been shooting daggers into the other red from the moment he embraced Kim. Jealousy got the best of him as he crossed his arms across his chest and went to stand by his girlfriend. "Let's not keep them from getting back to their own battles." he said with a hard smile across his face

"Of course not." Kim added smiling back as Elemi dropped her hands.

He looked from one red ranger to the other. Kim wasn't acting like her usual confidant self while Tommy looked like he was going to physically maul him. Why he didn't know, but what he did know was the man was right. They had their own demon to chase and they really should get back to him. Besides it was obvious that this wasn't going to turn out the way he'd hoped for. Elemi went back to stand with his other rangers before they teleported out, leaving the new team with Billy standing in the Command Chamber.

"We're glad you're alright." Jason said, ignoring the interaction that just took place while making a mental note to ask Kim about it later.

"There's no side effects or anything?" Rocky questioned as he put an arm on his girlfriend, momentarily resisting the urge to hold her tightly and never let her go.

Carri pulled her thoughts away from her amusement of Elemi's continued attempts to pursue Kim and to the man standing in front of her. "I'm a little tired."

"Me too." Kim chimed in.

"You both had your life energy drained. You need to get some rest before you'll be one hundred percent again." Billy pointed out. If they'd listen, he'd order them both home and to bed.

"I think I'm just going to go home and curl up in the bed for a little while." Kim said making eye contact with Carri, who nodded.

"We'll take you two home." Tommy said gesturing to himself and Rocky. He wanted just to hold Kim in private for a little while and he had a feeling Rocky was thinking the same thing.

"Ok." Kim agreed.

"Call me when you're up to it." Jason said smiling over at the girls who smiled back. As they teleported out he thought about how excited he was to have his sisters back in one piece. And now that they had new powers, life would get back to normal.

* * *

Callisto fell back into one of her fireball throwing rants in the main throne room, hitting any Cirranadrone she could get in her sights. At this point she didn't care about wasting the army, she wasn't planning on making a quick turnaround attack. Weeks worth of preparations were wasted and now they would have to start from scratch. Until they could get something else together it would be back to sending Cratus and Goldar down with the Cirranadrones and a monster in an attempt to thwart the rangers.

"Callisto if I may." Cratus said. The goddess stopped for a moment and turned toward him. "We will attack again and we will defeat them."

"The way things are going that isn't as easy as you make it sound." Callisto was quick to point out.

"Those rangers have just been lucky. However their luck is bound to change and we will be right there to capitalize when it does." He told her. He was desperately trying to change the goddess's mood.

Callisto cocked her head and regarded him curiously for a moment. He was right. That was one of the reasons she kept him around. He was loyal, a good soldier, and he even had good ideas on occasion. Of course that didn't keep her from being angry about the day's losses. "I'll be back." She said and with a wave of her hand she was off, leaving everyone else to pick up the pieces of her rampage.

* * *

Carri sat down on her bed and resisted the urge to collapse into it and fall asleep as Rocky stood beside her. She remembered the fight they'd had before all this happened, although it seemed like eons ago now. She was still hurt, but it almost didn't seem important anymore. When she was in the orb she really thought she was going to die, and more than anything she wanted to be with Rocky one last time.

Rocky glanced over at her and cautiously sat down on the bed next to his girlfriend, putting some space in between them as he wasn't sure how she felt about him. He reached out and placed a hand on her knee as he spoke. "I was so worried about you. I thought we were going to lose you. If it hadn't been for K...." He let his voice trail off as he paused and shook his head. "I love you and I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

She placed her hand on top of his, gently worming her fingers underneath his and turning his hand over. She cupped her hand fully in his before giving it a little squeeze. "When I was trapped in the orb I wasn't as afraid of dying as I was of never seeing you again." She said softly. "I suppose I owe K a thank you basket or something." She said flashing him a small smile

He looked up at her and smiled back. He almost didn't want to ruin the moment but he knew what was in the back of his mind and what he was certain was floating around in the back of hers. It had to be said and he wanted to approach it first. After all, it was his fault. "I'm sorry." He said quickly making eye contact with her. She sighed and dropped his hands. She knew it had to be discussed and she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She didn't have to worry about it at the moment as he continued. "I wasn't thinking. I should've told you I hired Jessica. I thought... God I don't know what I thought. I thought I could help her. It's my fault she's in this mess in the first place. I couldn't see her down and out like that. Stephanie moved to Europe with her boyfriend. She has no one, no income.... I felt bad."

Carri took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Her boyfriend had a big heart, it was something she always knew about him, something she loved about him. She wished he could've just slammed the door in that bitch's face but she knew it wasn't in his nature. "I know why you feel like you want to help Jessica, I do." She assured him. "But all I could think about when I saw her sitting behind that desk was the alternate Carri and Rocky and his baby. Our worlds are so close to each other it's hard not to be afraid of that."

That was something Rocky had thought about too when they returned from the alternate universe. He had hired Jessica prior to their adventure, and the thought that they might have a fling never occurred to him. Not that he thought about it now, but several times he had seen her and had an image of the baby floating around in his mind. "I hired her before we left. But you don't have to worry. I don't want to have a baby with her. I don't want to have an affair with her. I don't love her, I never did. I wouldn't turn to her, I wouldn't let her seduce me. I have everything I need in a relationship right here with you."

Several times the thought of the baby led him to think about Carri and how he wanted to marry her and have kids with her. She's the only woman in the world that would make him think about having a family of his own after spending most of his life helping raise six younger siblings. He wanted to tell her how he felt, that seeing all the people with the kids around him made him think about starting a family with her. He'd settle down now if he could. But he knew that as much as she loved him she wasn't keen on the idea of having kids, not now anyway.

"It's not that I don't trust you, that I think you'd do something with Jessica behind my back. It's that I don't trust her." Carri said emphasizing the word her and giving him a murderous look.

Rocky was quick to scoop up her hands in his and scoot closer toward her. "You'll never have to worry about her. She can make as many moves as she want but I have to give in for her to get anywhere. I can promise you that you'll never have to worry about me like that."

"It's still difficult. You're going to see her everyday and she's going to spend every waking moment trying to sabotage us." Carri pointed out. That girl was going to be in their business well more than Carri would like, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. It was bad enough having her lingering around through college.

"I was thinking about that." Rocky said as he flashed her a smile. "The secretary of my Stone Canyon school is an old friend of mine and Adam's. She lives near Angel Grove and would love to transfer and work at that school. If I could get Jessica to go to Stone Canyon, it would work out. She'd still have a job and I wouldn't have to see her every day."

That wasn't a bad idea as Carri wouldn't have to worry about what Jessica was plotting as much. "I like it. But she'll never go for it. The whole reason she works there is for you."

"She'll go for it. She knows I occasionally go out to the Stone Canyon school. And I'll offer her a small raise to make the transfer. She needs money more than she needs me. She may be obsessed but she's not stupid." Rocky said looking over at his girlfriend.

"Ok." She said simply. Hopefully he was right and she'd take the opportunity. She'd love for him to fire her but she knew that would never happen.

"Ok?" He repeated and she nodded. "So does that mean we're ok?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Yeah. We're ok."

He released her hands and cupped her face, pulling her in for a passionate kiss that she eagerly returned. The kiss ended and he draped his arms around her and pulled her into him as she nestled her head into his chest. He put his chin on the top of her head, content with never letting go.

"Rocky?" She spoke after a few minutes.

"Yeah?" He questioned as he ran his hand up and down her back.

"As much as I love being here, I really do need to get some rest." She said. Her exhaustion from the previous night's events was overwhelming and more than anything she wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep.

"I know." He replied as he leaned in and kissed her on the head. "You want some company?" It had been a long night for him as well. He wasn't planning on going into work until around lunchtime with left him with a few hours to try and catch up on some sleep.

"I'd love some." She said as she gently pushed away from him and gave him a smile. She stood and threw her clothes off, grabbing something out of the drawer to sleep in.

Rocky stripped down to his boxers as she climbed into bed. Once she was settled he climbed in next to her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close as they both drifted asleep.

* * *

Rocky and Carri were oblivious to everything that was going on not far from them in the bedroom Kim stayed in. Kim wanted to go back to the house to get rest, and she was quick to arrive and change and sit down on the bed. She was more than anxious to go to sleep, but she also wanted to talk to Tommy.

Tommy sat down and put his arms around his girlfriend. "I'm so glad you're back." He said as they hugged and he released her. He was glad he didn't have to search for a plan B, and that everything turned out alright. He just got her back into his life romantically and he wasn't going to let Callisto end it.

"I was worried for a while." She admitted. "I'm just glad K could help. And the Nova's." She was glad that Callisto and Rhianna didn't win while she was out of commission. That weighed heavily on her mind for a while as she sat in the orb. Carri lost consciousness before she did and that left her a lot of time to think about it.

"It was great." Tommy said thinking carefully of his next question. He wanted to say what the hell was going on, but given what Kim had just been through he didn't find it appropriate. Instead he carefully formulated his question hoping that Kim would think it was more curiosity than anger and jealousy. "Speaking of the Nova's, what's up between you and Elemi? He acted.... out of character around you. It was odd."

Kim suppressed the urge to smile as Tommy's jealousy came through. "Elemi has been interested in me ever since we first worked together." She replied flashing Tommy a smile. "He tried to get me to date him, even marry him a few times. To which I of course said no. Every time. That hasn't stopped him from trying though."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Great so now whenever we talk to him or need his help I have to worry about him hitting on you?"

Kim shrugged. There was always something about Elemi, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Whatever it was, it wasn't enough for her to want to have a relationship with him. So now she just resorted to trying to ignore his advances. Carri got a kick out of it. She thought Elemi was alright but not Kim's type. Kim was lonely and her friend had kept her straight, or else she might have ended up jumping into bed with him regardless of whether or not she wanted a relationship. Now that the two girls were back on Earth it had been somewhat of a joke. They would speak with Elemi and leave the Command Chamber, only to return home and carry on about all the things he said that were specifically meant to turn Kim's head toward him.

Tommy never picked up on it before although he probably would now. One would have had to know that Elemi was chasing after her to pick up on the hits he was dropping. "Don't worry about it. I am the one thing in this world that the red Nova ranger wants and can't have and I think it drives him nuts."

"You drive a man nuts? Imagine that." Tommy said as he smiled at her and gently brushed his fingers against her cheek. He didn't worry about her and Elemi. That didn't mean he was going to like the Nova red showing interest in his girlfriend, but that would be dealt with another day. Today he was just glad to have her back here with him.

Kim put a hand to her face and held his fingers there for a moment. "Tommy Oliver." she scolded as she made a face and crinkled up her nose

He took his thumb and released it from under her hand, moving it over and running it along the top of her nose watching as her face relaxed. "You're cute when you're angry."

She released her hand and put both of her hands on her hips and glared at him, causing him to drop his own hand and laugh. The moment he was off guard she pounced on him, sending him flat on his back with her sitting on top of him. "Am I still cute when I'm angry?"

"Of course." He said as he swiftly put his hands on her hips and pulled her down toward him. She immediately pressed her lips against his and started kissing him, first on the mouth and then moving down the side of his face toward his neck. He rubbed his hands along her body, enjoying every moment of it.

After a few minutes went by he grabbed her tightly and swung her around. It was his turn to kiss her all over. He could feel her hands in places that he longed for them to be. As her hands wondered up his back he paused and regarded her face for a moment. He brushed the loose strands of hair out of the way and looked into her eyes.

As much as he wanted this moment to continue on to other things, he could see the exhaustion in her face. He loved her too much to try and push her body too far after what happened last night and what she was going through. He leaned down and kissed her lips briefly at first before going back for a longer embrace. Then he sat up and moved over before helping her sit up as well.

"You need to get some sleep. How about we continue this later?" He suggested although the anticipation of a night with Kim was going to make it hard to concentrate on the research he had to work on that day

"Later it is then." Kim replied. She wasn't willing to give up the moment but he was right. Like it or not, she needed to recover first.

Tommy pulled the covers back for her and she climbed into them. He kissed her on the forehead and ran his fingers through his hair before leaving. As much as he wanted to crawl in bed with her and get some much needed sleep of his own he had work to be done and a deadline that afternoon that he had to address. He left her laying there, her eyes slowly closing as he teleported out of her room and back to his house.

* * *

Jason arrived at his house early that morning. He supposed he should go to sleep but he was too wired up to so instead he started a pot of coffee. As he waited for it to brew he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and went to stick it in the charger.

Once it was plugged in he hit the button and watched as it whirled back to life. It had died shortly after the whole mess had begun the previous day and it had been very low on his priority list. As it reconnected with the network it beeped at him, flashing that he had three new messages. Quickly he picked up the phone so that he could cycle through them and see what he missed.

After the messages ended he deleted them all and put the phone down on the table with a sigh. All three messages had been from the same person, Michelle. He had completely forgotten that he'd promised to take her to dinner last night. He was so worried about Kim and Carri that it slipped his mind. Hopefully he could find a way to make it up to her that day.

Here he was back to making excuses for his missed dates again. It had been a long time since he really had to try. He wasn't sure what he could tell her, and he didn't think that "family emergency" would be enough now that he was an adult. He thought about stretching the truth, saying that Kim and Carri were in trouble and that he had to help him out, but he didn't think that would go over well with his new girlfriend.

Which left him with one option. He had to make up something random and hopefully believable. This would be the first test of their new relationship. The first chance to see if they could even go for the long haul. After all if she couldn't trust him and accept that things happened in his life that he couldn't control, maybe they weren't meant to be together.

It was a lot to ask in a woman, to have faith in him and trust that nothing's going on, especially this early in the relationship. Emily had been the only woman to ever put her trust in him like that, and even that wore thin after a while. Jason sighed as Emily crossed his mind again. He had allowed himself to go years without thinking of her, and ever since they returned from the alternate universe she started slipping back into his thoughts. The more he thought about it the more he thought about how that was the best relationship he'd ever had. He was never certain what led to its demise. He wasn't even a ranger any more when it ended. He always thought if they broke up that would've been the nail in the coffin but that wasn't the case.

He was taking more hours in college and working hard to get good grades and graduate at the time. Without rangering standing in their way, the five former rangers were starting to get involved with other activities and they were having a good time. They were even getting a chance to hang out with the Astro Rangers some as Ashley transferred to USC for their fashion design program after getting her associates back home, and Carri's friend helped Carlos to get a soccer scholarship to the school.

Perhaps it was the fact that he didn't go home as much. After all Emily was starting to take college classes of her own. They always wanted to make plans to see each other but between her working and going to school and everything he was doing they never had a chance. Some weekends he would go home and she wouldn't be able to see him even though he was in her neighborhood. Some weekends she would tell him not to even bother.

He supposed he should've suspected something was up then. But he continued to live his life oblivious to what was going on in Angel Grove. He would talk to her on the phone and they would profess their love for one another. He spent his weekends with his girls as Tommy was always busy with school and Rocky was starting to work extra so that he could get his karate school opened right after graduation.

They had a lot of fun hanging around together and with their other friends but it wasn't the same as they weren't his girls in the same sense Emily was. As weekends went by with Emily not having spare time to see her boyfriend, Jason found himself in a funk. The girls couldn't stand it and they tried their hardest to cheer him up until finally they convinced them to go surprise her. Kim pointed out that as hard as she was working she would love to see him. Carri convinced him to bring flowers and chocolates, that he'd have the most romantic weekend of his life if he surprised her like that.

The following Friday night he drove down to Angel Grove. He first went to the juice bar where Ernie told him that Emily had the night off. He stopped by the store and picked up flowers and chocolates before heading over to her apartment. Her car was there which meant she was there, and he was excited about seeing her. He had a key and he was just going to bust in and surprise her but there was no need as the door was unlocked.

Quickly he slipped in and headed toward her room. When he flung her door open he saw her naked and with another man. She tried to explain but he didn't want to hear it. After a few choice words he stormed out of her apartment and back towards his car, throwing her gifts in the trash on the way out. She tried calling him as he jumped into his car and tore off, but he didn't want to hear her excuses. As mad as he was he was lucky that he made it back to LA in one piece.

He found himself almost relieved to see that the girls were there when he got there. It was hard but they helped him get past Emily. She was the only woman he had ever opened up to like that and it seemed like she'd easily ripped his heart out and stomped on it. The girls had listened to her lame excuses on his voicemail and relayed them to him but he didn't care. Nothing would make up for it.

In all honesty that was the last serious relationship he'd had and the last one he wanted. He wasn't sure it was worth it and he wanted to make sure the girl was right before he committed to her. He thought he could make it work with Michelle but he'd have to wait and see. After today he'd have a good idea on whether or not they could be together.

Jason sighed as he stood and went to grab himself a cup of coffee. He might as well wake himself up and go figure out something to do.

* * *

Around four that afternoon Carri started stirring. She was feeling much better and was ready to climb out of bed and enjoy a nice hot shower. Rolling over she was somewhat surprised to find that she was alone, although she supposed she shouldn't be. Lying where her boyfriend once slept was a note on the pillow.

She picked it up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before glancing it over. It was what she expected it to say, that he had gotten up to go to work and that he'd call her later. She supposed she had work of her own she should be doing. Sleeping all day did not make the production of her show go any faster and she knew she'd make up for her day of recovery over the next few days.

Flopping the covers off of her she sat up and stretched before slowly swinging her feet over the edge. She stood up and shuffled her way into the bathroom closing the door behind her. As Carri was jumping into the shower, Kim was stepping out feeling rejuvenated as she got dressed and ready for the day.

As she quickly got dressed her first thoughts were the same as those of her friend. That she wasted a good working day in bed and that she was going to be paying for it the rest of the week. Not to mention Sandy would never let her hear the end of it. She didn't show up for work, nor did she bother to call and say she wasn't showing up for work.

She supposed Billy could give her a fake doctor's note. An emergency hospital trip or something. But then again it wasn't really Sandy's opinion that mattered and she wasn't sure why she cared so much about it. She was just going to tell Ashley the truth, if she didn't know already, and promise to make it up in the upcoming days. She doubted that the former yellow ranger would fire her for not calling while she was recuperating from almost dying the previous night in defense of the planet.

Kim took one final glance of herself in the mirror before opening the door and walking through the house. She bypassed the living room and went straight for the kitchen and the coffee maker, putting on a pot for herself and Carri. While she waited for it to brew, she wondered into the living room and curled up on the couch, making herself comfortable as she clicked the TV on and started surfing through channels.

The four o'clock hour was full of afternoon dramas, and Kim finally found herself settling on an episode of While You Were Out that involved garden redecoration. She started watching the fountains and the flowers they were bringing in but it didn't take long for her mind to drift away to other things.

It started with her time spent in the orb. So many things crossed her mind while she was stuck in there dwindling down to nothing. Strangely the least of which was the fear of death. She had a lot of fears sitting in the orb but they were more important than death. She feared that she failed as a red and that Callisto and Rhianna would be able to take over Earth in her absence. Not that the others weren't strong rangers, but without their powers she didn't think they were going to stop them.

Stopping Rhianna was what drove her to leave the planet all those years ago. She felt that the spawn of Rita and Zedd was her responsibility, that her attacking Earth was her responsibility. She needed to see that through to the end, she was going to see that through to the end. She felt as though it was her purpose in life, although perhaps not her greatest purpose as the adventure in the alternate universe shifted where she thought her life was going.

Another thing she had a lot of time to think about in the orb was her relationship with Tommy. She loved him more than anything, and she could see herself having a future with him. After being in the alternate universe she knew it was possible. After all they'd been through together they more than deserved it. Sitting in there she thought of him and she missed him. She wanted him to be standing strong beside her and it was a difficult thought that he might never be there with her again.

Of course there was one thing that stood between them, and that was the truth of all that happened to her while she was away. She wanted to tell him all about Phaedos, she just wasn't sure if he was ready to hear it yet. His reaction to what happened in the alternate universe had been less than favorable. That was different from her being a master warrior, but she knew he'd have the same reaction. He knew she'd been through a lot but he still thought of her as his Kim, the former gymnast and bubbly pink ranger he fell in love with the first time. She was still that Kim, but now she was so much more. She could tell that it was hard for Tommy to swallow, the course of action that her life was now taking. Eventually she would tell him about what her time on Phaedos meant, but she would have to ease into it.

"You made coffee?" Carri asked as she walked into the living room and pulled Kim out of her thoughts.

"Yeah." Kim replied. She had forgotten all about it once she was lost in her thoughts but as Carri headed into the kitchen Kim stood up and joined her. The two girls fixed themselves cups of coffee and walked over to the table to sit.

With a sigh Carri glanced over at her cell phone. She picked it up and saw that she had several missed calls and several messages to go with them. Taking a sip of her coffee she dialed into her voice mail and listened to them. Most of them were from work saying that they needed her for this and that. Those she saved so she could remember what needed to be done.

One message caused her to shriek with excitement as she slammed her phone shut and took off. Kim watched curiously as her friend reemerged with her laptop in hand and sat it down on the table letting it boot up. "What's that all about?"

"The reviews are in." Carri said grinning at her. "Dad left me a message. He sent several to my email. He said he was proud of me and for me to call him later."

"Proud? That has to be a good thing." Kim replied smiling back at her friend. With the attacks and their capture Kim had almost forgotten about the show premier they had attended just two nights ago.

"Let's hope so." she replied. Carri was silent as her computer finished booting up and she maneuvered her way into her inbox. She scanned down until she found the letter from her father and quickly opened it up. She put her feet in her chair and pulled her knees into her chest as she nervously scrolled through. After a few minutes a slow smile spread across her face. "They like it." She said simply at first. "I mean they really like it." She repeated with a little more enthusiasm

"Congratulations." Kim said as she leaned over to give her friend a hug. As Carri let her go she passed over her computer and let Kim read for herself. She had to admit, she was impressed with what her friend had put together and the fact that it seemed to be loved so far was amazing.

"I can't believe." Carri started, stopping when her phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID and saw Kat's name across the screen. Tapping her fingers on the table she debated whether or not to answer. But Kat had left several messages for her and she had to talk to her eventually. Quickly she picked up the phone and greeted her cousin. "Hey. Sorry I haven't called you back. Ranger emergency." She declined elaborating that she and Kim had been most of the emergency.

"That's ok." Kat said softly.

"So what's up?" Carri asked. It was unusual for her cousin to call that much and she sounded rather down on the phone which worried Carri.

Kat let out a heavy sigh. "The other night, when you asked where Chris was and I said working late.... I lied. We had a fight before I left. I needed to cool down so I went without him."

"What happened?" Carri questioned although she wasn't sure she cared much about their bickering. She didn't like the man to begin with and she wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the first time they argued about something.

"He quit his job." Kat said quietly as she absentmindedly fumbled with the fabric on her shirt, trying not to let herself get to upset.

"At the golf course?" Carri asked hoping that the man had enough sense to keep his job as a trainer which made decent money and quit his play job that he did part time for the employee perks.

"No." Kat replied before she burst into tears. God she wished he would've quit that job. It wouldn't have been a big deal. It wasn't like the golf job payed a lot, he just did it for fun.

"Shit." Carri said with feeling as she worked hard to hold back the giant I told you so that quickly formed on her lips. She knew he was a loser and not marriage material. Now with the baby on the way he didn't have a job. At least not one that counted. "So what are you guys going to do?"

"I don't know. It's hard. We've lost that income and I've lost my insurance through his company. I don't know what to do. The baby's on the way and we don't have the money for the medical expenses and we can't afford insurance on our own with him not working." Kat managed to spit out in between sobs.

"Don't you have insurance?" Carri questioned.

"I'm a full time dance teacher at a small studio. They don't exactly offer insurance." Kat replied like it was the most absurd question ever asked.

Kat's attitude worked Carri's nerves and she was having a hard time controlling what she really wanted to say. She didn't take much care in her next question and it came out a little more harsh than she intended. "So are you going to leave Chris?"

"What?" Kat questioned surprised that her cousin even asked something like that. "Of course not I still love him. And I am having his child." She was mad at Chris, that was certain. But he had his reasons for quitting his job, and regardless of whether or not Kat agreed with them as his wife she'd stand by him. He promised to look for a new job but she doubted it would come in time for her to get insurance and money for the birth.

"Well I'm just saying. I mean he is," Carri paused as Kim smacked her leg. She had been listening to the conversation and from the look on Carri's face she was about to say something that was inappropriate given the circumstances. "He did quit his job and leave you high and dry. So I was just wondering that's all." Carri finished glancing over at Kim. So maybe he is a loser and a douche and you should have never married him was not an appropriate response but it was the one she wanted to give and if it weren't for Kim stopping her she would have.

"Well." Kat said her voice trailing off as she paused. Perhaps confiding in Carri was a mistake. After all she hated the man more than anyone and he just made the ultimate screw up. But Kat desperately wanted them to be friends again and to that end she didn't want to keep it a secret. "I just wanted you to know what was going on." She said breathing deeply so she wouldn't start crying all over again.

"Oh. Well thanks for calling." Carri said ready to end the conversation before she started to say what was on her mind.

"You're welcome." Kat replied with a sigh. She supposed it was hard for her to use Carri as a shoulder to lean on. After all it would be hard for her cousin to understand where she was coming from. Living comfortably paycheck to paycheck, trying to save pennies when they could in case of emergency and not having enough when a real crisis came around. Carri had her own wealth she was starting to accumulate and had that of her parents, and not having money when she needed it had never been a concern of hers.

"If you need me call." Carri told her. And she did mean it, she wanted Kat to be able to talk to her about things. Of course she also wanted Kat to be able to handle her brutal opinion about things which she knew she had trouble with. "So I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah." Kat replied before saying goodbye.

Carri said goodbye as well before hanging up the phone and turning toward Kim. "I cannot believe that her loser of a husband quit his job while she was pregnant."

"She dug herself this hole and is content on staying in it, so all you can do is keep your mouth shut and support her." Kim replied. Despite their grievances over the past few years she felt bad for Kat. It wasn't a good spot to be in for anyone.

Carri crossed her arms and gave Kim a look and Kim smiled at her. She knew that keeping her mouth shut was not her friend's style and it was a huge feat that she managed to do it this time. "Didn't your mother ever teach you that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?" Kim teased.

"Apparently you haven't spent much time with my mother." Carri replied with a smile as she dropped her arms and went back to her cup of coffee. She would try and support Kat as long as she only had encounters with her on good days. If Kat tried to look for sympathy when Carri was already in a foul mood she wouldn't hesitate to let her know what she really thought.

As the girls enjoyed their coffee Carri's phone rang again. This time it was Jason's name strewn across the caller ID. "You're a popular person this morning." Kim commented as Carri flipped her phone open and put it on speaker.

"Morning Jase." Carri said as she placed the phone in between herself and Kim.

"Morning? You do realize it's getting close to five at night." Jason was quick to tease her knowing that she had probably just gotten done resting.

"Some of us spent the night in the orb and the daytime sleeping so it's morning." Kim chimed in to alert Jason of her presence .

"I guess I'll let you slide this time." Jason said, happy to hear that both of his girls were on the phone with him. "Anyway I was calling to see if you wanted to grab your boys and meet me down at Bulkmeier's in about an hour for dinner."

"That sounds fabulous." Kim said as the mention of food reminded her of how hungry she was.

"Count me in." Carri added. It would be fun to have dinner with her friends after the whirlwind of the last twenty-four hours.

"Great. So I'll see you at Bulkmeier's at six?" Jason questioned.

"See ya at six." Kim confirmed their dinner plans. The three echoed goodbyes and Carri snapped her phone shut.

"So I suppose we should go call the guys and get ready for dinner?" She questioned looking over at Kim, who nodded in agreement.

The two girls quickly made phone calls to their boyfriends before heading off into their bedrooms to finish getting ready.

* * *

Just before six Jason sat alone at the bar in Bulkmeier's, waiting for his girlfriend and his friends to arrive. He was happy that Michelle agreed to come, he was afraid that she wasn't going to speak to him again after missing dinner last night. He had given her an excuse. It was a rather lame excuse, but it was still an excuse. And she was timid about believing it, about believing him.

It had gotten him to formulate doubts that this relationship was going to work at all. His involvement with the rangers caused him to demand a lot from a woman and if he was forced to chose between his commitment to saving the world and a girlfriend, he'd pick the rangers every time. She wasn't happy with his disappearance for the night or his sudden unavailability at the time of their date. He had told her it was his job that had taken him away that night. And he knew that if she couldn't accept the fact that his job might interfere with his schedule that there would be no hope for them.

With a sigh he reached over and took a gulp of his beer. Turning toward the door he saw Kim and Carri enter and he gave them a quick wave. The girls made their way over toward him and smiled as they all said their hellos.

"So are your guys coming?" Jason questioned noticing the absence of their dates.

"Rocky had to stay at work until six so he'll be a few minutes late." Carri replied.

Kim looked over at Jason and grinned. "I told Tommy six so..." She said with a shrug.

Jason laughed. Some things never changed. "So then six fifteen?"

"Something like that." Kim replied with a grin. Some things never changed.

"If you girls want to grab some beers," he said pointing to the bar behind them, "we can head over to the table." Jason turned back toward the bartender and flagged him down so they could get the girls some drinks.

Kim and Carri ordered and they each took a few gulps of their beverages as Jason led them off toward their table. As they sat their drinks down they heard someone call Jason's name. Turning around they saw Michelle coming their way with someone behind her. Kim elbowed Carri who turned toward her with a fake smile. They had almost forgotten about the incident with Jason's girlfriend and neither had the chance to say anything to him.

Michelle walked up to Jason and the person from behind her stepped forward. "I hope you don't mind but I brought my sister with me." She said as she flashed Jason a smile. She was still angry about the night before and she figured if she brought her sister she could at least keep her sane.

"That's not a problem." He replied as he extended his hand out to the woman he'd never met. "I'm Jason." He said as he glanced back and forth between the two

"Melinda." The other woman replied taking his hand and shaking it.

"I didn't know you had a twin." Jason said as he looked between the two. They were strikingly similar in appearance but there was something that separated Melinda that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"There are a lot of things about me you don't know." Michelle replied flashing him a smile. "These are Jason's friends, Kim and Carri." Michelle said gesturing to the duo.

Melinda reached out and shook Kim's hand before turning to shake Carri's. "Carri and I go way back." She said as she shook her hand.

Carri held the other woman's hand in hers for a moment as she regarded her curiously. Suddenly it hit her. Michelle was Michelle and Melinda was, "Michael?" She questioned out loud.

"It's Melinda now but yes." She replied. She was wondering how long it would take Carri to figure it out.

"We played together and I never knew you had a twin." Carri said. She was starting to feel a little light headed between the life force drain, starting on beer without eating since the previous day's breakfast and the information that was rushing toward her head.

"Yeah she went to charter school. She came to a few games but I don't know if you ever met her." Melinda replied letting Carri's hand go.

Carri continued to look at the two women curiously. It was all becoming a lot to process for the state she was in and without warning she fell to the floor. "Carri?" Jason questioned as he and Kim quickly went to her side.

They pulled her up and into a chair as her eyes opened and the world came back into focus. "What happened?"

"You fainted." Jason replied. It bothered him some and he hoped she was alright. It wasn't like her to faint.

"I did?" She questioned in surprise as Jason and Kim nodded. "I can't believe I fainted. I guess with everything that happened and then I thought that... I mean it was just... well... never mind let's just sit." Carri was flustered that she fainted and she was flustered about the Melinda/Michelle situation and embarrassed about thinking that it was Michelle who was Michael. She wasn't about to admit to any of that, at least not here in front of them.

"Well," Jason started spinning her chair around to face the table. "You're sitting." He didn't know what that was all about but he certainly didn't want her to get up again only to faint again.

Kim quickly sat down beside her friend as Jason, Michelle and Melinda went to sit on the other side of the table. "So did you guys here? Carri's show got great reviews." Kim said quickly trying to direct attention off of her friend's fainting and on to something else.

"Really?" Jason questioned as she smiled and nodded at him. "Carri that's great. You were on pins and needles waiting for those reviews."

"Yeah. Dad sent them to me today. I'm excited. There's hope for us yet." She said momentarily forgetting the fainting and getting giddy about her show.

"I got a chance to see the premiere. It was fabulous." Melinda told her.

Carri smiled at her. "Thank you."

"Hey guys." Rocky said coming up behind them and putting his arms on his girlfriend's shoulders, giving her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to her.

He got a chorus of hello's in reply but one of them stood out. "Hey Rocky long time no see." Melinda greeted, glad to see another one of her former teammates.

Rocky looked at her curiously for a moment. He glanced briefly at Carri then back to Michelle and Melinda. "It's been what, ten years since we were playing together?"

"That sounds about right." Melinda replied with a smile. "Things have changed a bit since then. I go by Melinda now."

"Well Melinda it's good to see you." Rocky said smiling over at her as he leaned back in his chair and put an arm around his girlfriend.

"Sorry I'm late." Tommy said as he walked up to the table and slid into the seat next to Kim, putting an arm around her and pulling her in close to him. He smiled as she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. She had been all he could think about all day, and as much fun as dinner with his friends was he couldn't wait to take off and get her home alone with him.

"It's ok we haven't ordered yet." Kim replied skipping the obvious you're always late joke. "This is Michelle's sister Melinda." She said doing a quick introduction.

"Nice to meet you." Tommy replied extending his hand over the table.

"You too." She said as she shook his outstretched hand.

"So what do you guys think? Are we ready to get something to eat?" Rocky questioned as he looked around the table.

"Absolutely I'm starving." Carri said as not eating quickly caught up to her.

The rangers of the group laughed as Carri was not usually the one of them to jump on the food. Jason looked around the crowded room and saw their waitress on the other side. He smiled at her and gave her a wave and she held up a finger indicating that she'd be there momentarily. The group leaned back and started talking, the rangers enjoying a relaxing night that they'd earned, able to momentarily take their minds off of the previous struggle and the battles that lay ahead.


	13. A Sense Of Normalcy

**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers are still the property of Disney. Callisto was created by Universal. The alternate universe mentioned is from "The Coin Series" by KSuzie and any mention of characters or events from that universe are her property. Everything else belongs to me.  
**Author's Note:** In this chapter things are seemingly getting back to normal, or as normal as things get in the lives of the Power Rangers. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. As always reviews are appreciated.  
**Spoiler Alert:** The first segment of this story specifically references something that will happen in the next chapter of KSuzie's "The Coin Series". If you want to find out about the event when she posts it, skip down through the first scene with Kim and start the chapter where she's having brunch with Carri and Jason.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"A Sense Of Normalcy"

Kim awoke early on a Saturday morning in Tommy's bed. The spot next to her was empty but that was to be expected as Tommy had volunteered to drop by Rocky's school and spend time with the Saturday morning classes as a guest instructor. That left her alone in bed that morning but that had been alright.

Besides she wouldn't be alone for long as she had to get up and get dressed to go meet Jason and Carri for brunch. It was nice to be able to get to sit down with the two of them because it was going to give them a chance to get together and catch up. Everyone had been busy as of late and they hadn't had as much time to hang out as they would've liked.

Not that they were busy with monster attacks. It had been almost a month since they switched their powers and there was hardly a peep from Callisto or Rhianna. Every once in a while they'd get a wave of Cirranadrones to deal with or they would be graced with the presence of Goldar or Cratus. None of those battles ever lasted long, they never did.

Kim found herself worrying about this. She wasn't sure if their silence was a good thing or a bad one. Billy pointed out multiple times that as they had no clue what they were up to, they couldn't say for sure what the silence was about until the duo made the next move. Kim didn't like that answer in the slightest. The mind of the red in her was going a mile a minute trying to guess their next move. It could be more devastating than their last move. But Billy was right, there was no indication of anything they were doing and they couldn't start speculating until they had something to speculate from.

Although they weren't seeing any monster attacks, her friends were busy with their everyday lives. Jason had been spending a lot of time with his publisher. His new book was due soon. He hadn't given them a date yet but he told them to be looking for it. Of course when he wasn't with his publisher he was trying to see if things were working with Michelle. Carri was swamped with work. It wouldn't be long before they were done with the production of the summer episodes of her show. Four of them had aired, and they had four more yet to air. So far they had been doing well, but she was very nervous over the future of the show. When she wasn't busy with her show, she was busy with Rocky. Kim hadn't been around the duo a lot before they left all those years ago, but as far as she could tell they were closer now than they were before.

Of course Kim couldn't say anything about working on romance because she had her own with Tommy. She loved him with all her heart and she adored spending every waking minute with him. It was to the point where Carri joked that she didn't have a roommate anymore. Kim would spend one or two nights a week at the house and the rest of them with Tommy. And she was usually only at the house when she had work to do. Work, the other thing keeping her more than a little busy. Ashley had loved some of her early ideas and now Kim was working on some really important marketing campaigns. It was great, but it was more than a little time consuming.

When she wasn't busy with work or Tommy, she was spending the rest of her time trying to figure out what was happening to her. Billy checked her the day before and told her that almost all her cells were transformed. She had yet to see any major effects of her Muirantian powers like the ones K had, but over the last few weeks she could tell that they were definitely growing.

It started after her adventure in the orb. She felt the presence of the morphing grid. She wasn't sure how she did it and the feeling didn't stay long, but since then every time she went to morph she could briefly feel the grid. That wasn't the only thing that happened after the incident in the orb.

Both she and Carri had their life forces drained while they were in the orb. It took Carri a few days to recover. She had even fainted once, and Billy had told her it was because although she felt better, her body was only working at about fifty percent. Thanks to Kim's Muirantian cells she recovered within the first day. Not only did she recover from that incident faster, but a week later she found herself recovering from other things too.

It was like one day she woke up and she was a new woman. Battle scars from times past had disappeared. Injuries that she'd suffered while she was a ranger and a gymnast, ones that still nagged her on occasion felt like they were no longer there. Her allergies were all the sudden non existent. She felt better than she'd had in years and she had a horrifying experience in the pit to thank for that.

She was still coming to terms with what all this meant. Her DNA was being changed to the point where she was going to no longer be truly human anymore. She would soon come into powers that she would have never dreamed of. Fortunately she had already been trained as a master warrior, which meant that she was going to gain powers much faster than K did and the transition in theory was going to be easier. That didn't mean she was going to understand her powers. K was much older than she was and it had taken her decades to learn how to use her powers fully.

Which meant that Kim had a while to go, especially since she really hadn't seen much of her powers. As the red Planetary Ranger and a master warrior she understood what this meant and what was going to happen to her in the future. She had a firm handle on everything, but that didn't keep her from being slightly terrified of her situation. Things were going to happen that she wasn't sure if she was mentally ready for. She was physically ready but at the same time she was scared about what she was going through.

It was hard to prepare for something as life changing as this and it was even harder being the only one of your friends that knew what you were really going through. She had a lot that was going to happen in her future and she found herself looking at it with fear and wonder.

But there would be time for her to concentrate on what was going to happen to her. She wasn't fully converted yet and she'd start thinking about the heavier side effects when they showed up. For now it was time to get dressed before she was late to brunch.

* * *

Kim approached the outdoor table at the small diner where Jason and Carri were sitting waiting for her. "You're late." Carri said with a grin as she looked up from her menu

"I thought it was your boyfriend who had the time problem." Jason teased as she sat down

"Hush. Both of you." Kim replied with a grin of her own as the waitress came over and she ordered a glass of juice. She left and Kim picked up the menu, glancing it over while listening to her friends chatter.

"So are you done yet with the first half of this season?" Jason questioned glancing over at Carri

"Just about. Soon we'll be on hiatus until September." she replied holding her hands up and crossing her fingers. There was no official word yet from the network on whether or not her series would return in the spring. But ratings were good and there was speculation that they would be renewed. Baring no major disaster in the next few weeks, they would be officially renewed at the end of August and could continue filming right after.

Jason nodded. He wasn't going to say anything as he knew she was optimistic about her show's future. "You know where you're filming the next twelve shows?" he questioned as the waitress walked over to them ready to take their order. Carri put off answering the question as the three of them quickly placed their orders and handed the waitress back the menus.

"We have ideas. After we officially finish production the other hosts and I are going to look into cities we'd want to go to and what they'd want to cover in those cities." Carri explained. It was all going to be unofficial as they couldn't really do anything until they'd been given the notice that their show would continue. But at the same time it was better than nothing.

"Sounds good." Jason replied as he glanced over at Kim. "What about you? How has your work been going?"

"Really good." Kim said with a smile as she thought about it. "Ashley loved some of my ideas and now I have some big campaigns I'm working on."

"That's awesome. So are we going to see Kimberly Heart ideas promoting Ashley Hammond's creations?" Carri asked smiling over at her friend

"Hopefully." Kim replied smiling back at her. "And" she started to speak but she thought she saw something flash in her face. "Did someone just take our picture?"

Carri shrugged. "Probably." It was starting to happen to her now, although not very often. It didn't bother her much. As a child her photo had been snapped as Jonathan Hillard's daughter. So far the only difference was they were snapping her photo to figure out who Carri Hillard was. "They're just taking pics for magazines. Or souvenirs."

As her show started gaining popularity she came across one or two pictures of herself in the tabloids. It was nothing major as she hadn't given them anything exciting to write about. There was a picture of her with Kim in the mall and she'd seen a picture of the two of them tanning on the beach. Neither knew it was shot but neither was incriminating in any way. They were in two different magazines and both had captions something along the lines of "new cable tv host and former Pan-Global gymnast hang out".

"Are they following you around?" Jason asked. That was cause for concern as she was still a ranger.

"Nah. I'm not exactly follow around material. If they happen to see me they'll snap a picture. I think they're working on the who is Carri Hillard story." She was glad she wasn't worthy of being followed as that might drive her crazy.

"Just be careful." Jason warned. "That story includes things you don't want the public to know about." God forbid someone take her picture while she was morphing. The press would have a field day with that. Not to mention it would compromise their mission. And if the whirlwind surrounding that wasn't enough, Tommy would go ballistic. He had warned them to be very cautious this time around as he had gotten caught once by high school reporters. Luckily they decided not to run the tape but it would have been a disaster.

"I'm not stupid." Carri replied. She was well aware that she had to be extra cautious whenever she morphed and she had to do it somewhere where she could make damn sure noone could see her.

"Well..." Jason said his voice trailing off as he gave her a look and she rolled her eyes

Kim rolled her eyes at the both of them before she spoke. "Anyway. What else is new?"

"I think it's hard for anything to be new with us." Carri said with a smile. They kept too in tune with everyone's lives for there to be anything new going on. "I'm working on my job and my relationship, Kim's working on a job and a relationship, and Jason's working on being lazy and a relationship."

Jason laughed. He wouldn't exactly call it being lazy. He had to come up with plot points for a new novel before he started working on it, plus he wanted his latest book to be on the shelves for a while so he could get feedback before he started the sequel.

"How's Michelle doing?" Kim asked turning toward Jason. Being as close knit as they were they were all aware of Rocky and Tommy's status, the only one of their relationships that remained somewhat of a mystery was Michelle.

"She's ok." Jason said with a sigh. To be honest he wasn't sure if she was ok or not. He wasn't sure if he was ok which prompted him to seek advice from his girls. "I don't know if we're ok."

"What's wrong?" Kim asked as she and Carri turned their full attention toward him

"She's not happy with me rushing off to do work." he replied emphasizing the word work. "And I don't think I can be with her if she doesn't accept that sometimes I have to go do work."

"Well if she doesn't understand your work then you may have to chose between work and her." Carri pointed out. She felt bad for him. She and Kim each had a ranger boyfriend, a member of the team and they didn't have to worry about rangering getting in the way of their relationships. Jason had a civilian relationship and being a ranger had a tendency to drive those apart rather quickly. It was amazing that Emily put up with it for so long without knowing the truth.

Jason snorted. "If those are my choices you know I chose work." He wouldn't give up being a ranger for her. That was his life, it was too important to him to give up over a girl he wasn't sure about. Even if he thought she was the one he wouldn't give up his duty to saving the world for her. He couldn't, it was in his blood. There were reasons why he kept getting drawn back to being a ranger.

Kim scrunched her nose up and looked over at him. "Jase I thought you really liked her."

"I did. I do. I just don't think she's ok with the work thing and I'm not going to waste time on her if it's just going to end down the road." Jason tried to explain. He wasn't sure if they understood. And it wasn't like it bothered him that much. Yes he really liked her, but finding dates was never a problem and he'd just look around until he found someone who would trust and understand him.

Kim looked over at Carri who nodded at her. They both knew what his explanation meant. It meant he wasn't going to put his heart and soul into this relationship, put her through the trials of dating a ranger, if in the end she was just going to screw someone else. Carri glanced back to Jason and shrugged. "Well you've got to do what you've got to do. If she doesn't understand your work, leave her before someone gets hurt." That someone being him as she didn't want to see him invest in another woman like that just to get heartbroken.

"Yeah. You're probably right." Jason replied. Their relationship was on a short leash and he'd have to see if it could withstand the pressure of him being a ranger. If not then it wasn't worth staying with it. As he sat there thinking about it the waitress returned and sat their breakfast in front of them. They thanked the waitress and she left as all eyes turned back to Jason. "So." he said indicating he was about to change the topic. "Do you girls want to go for a walk down the strip after breakfast?"

Carri looked up at him and smiled evilly. "You mean you want to walk in front of the stores? With me and Kim?"

"To walk, not to shop." Jason said. He actually had something particular in mind he hoped they'd get a kick out of.

Kim raised an eyebrow and looked over at Carri. "If he's feeling that adventurous I'm all for it."

"Me too." Carri said with a shrug

"Great. Then let's eat and we'll go for a walk." Jason said. The conversation lessened as each of the rangers worked on finishing their breakfast.

* * *

Rocky walked around the mats in his school as he watched Tommy finish up with his last class of the morning. He loved to have guest instructors every once in a while, someone to give the students a fresh perspective. He was thrilled that Tommy had volunteered. He had a feeling that he missed teaching classes.

Of course that was probably why he went on to be a teacher. Tommy always loved helping his students. However never in a million years would Rocky have guessed that paleontology would've been his subject of choice. He supposed it had something to do with the rangers. It seemed like all of Tommy's decisions were influenced directly or indirectly by the power. That's what led him down the path that got him where he is now.

Rocky took a different path and in all honesty he was glad that he had enjoyed most of the last decade monster free. He didn't for one second regret being involved again now. He loved being a ranger and his re-involvement was almost enough to make him wish he'd never left. Despite the team losing their powers Tommy didn't leave, neither did Kim or Carri. And although Jason didn't fight for eight years he still tried to stay involved. Rocky had chosen a more peaceful path and he was grateful for that as he had three successful schools to show for it. He never would've been able to do that as a ranger.

It was obvious that being a ranger didn't necessarily have to hurt your career. Tommy had done well for himself, and Carri and Kim were well on their way to becoming successes in their own fields. And Jason, well Jason wasn't involved like the others and he wasn't sure if it mattered as by Jason's current lifestyle it doesn't seem like online investing takes a lot of his time. Regardless of how little he put into it his friend did ok for himself. But starting three karate schools, that was definitely something that took all his time and attention.

He thought about how happy he was with the way his life has gone as he approached the receptionist's desk. "Hey. Anything going on?"

The redhead in the chair behind the desk swirled to face him. "I'm just working my magic." she replied as she handed him a folder filled with sign up sheets. "You had a few new students, some of which brought in their friends and siblings who I convinced needed to join as well. Plus I got half of them to go ahead and sign up for the seminar."

Rocky smiled at her as he took it. "Thanks Ally you're the best." he replied. It was no wonder his Stone Canyon instructors loathed to let her transfer. They got Jessica who was an alright secretary, but she certainly didn't have Ally's people skills. It was amazing that she got some kids who haven't even taken a class yet to sign up for the all day seminar his school would be doing. He was hoping that it would go over well. He had a lot of good things planned. The seminar wasn't really a class, it was going to be martial arts teachings and lectures and demonstrations and he was excited about it.

"I told you that you should've pulled me over here earlier." she replied with a smile. She'd grown up in Stone Canyon but she always wanted to move to their rival town, Angel Grove. Especially after students from her high school were forced to transfer as they redrew county lines. She missed lunches with Rocky, Adam and Aisha. She was psyched to get a job with an old friend and she'd begged him for months to get her into his Angel Grove school. Now that she was here, she was having a blast.

"Well I couldn't be happier that you're here now." he replied. Mainly because her being here meant that Jessica was in Stone Canyon, miles away from anywhere she could do any damage to his relationship. He saw her an average of once a week now, and he was never around her long enough for her to think about doing anything.

"I can't believe your secretary here wanted to go to Angel Grove." Ally said. It had been amazing that it worked out that way.

"Yeah. That was good luck for you." Rocky replied with a smile. When he asked Jessica to transfer to Stone Canyon to help him out, he hadn't told her that Ally was coming to Angel Grove. He just told her to please help him and not ask questions and thanks to the raise he gave her she did. Ally was told Jessica wanted a transfer. He didn't find it any of her business why exactly he was trying to get Jessica out of Angel Grove.

Ally was about to say something else but she stopped as the children calling their goodbyes caught Rocky's attention. He turned around and said goodbye to his students as they started to make their way toward the exits. There were only a few parents and kids left milling around one of the mats when Tommy made his way over to him.

"Thanks for letting me do this. I had a lot of fun." Tommy said. He had forgotten how much fun it was to teach karate to kids.

"Anytime." Rocky replied with a smile. "The kids really liked you so if you ever want to do it again just let me know."

Tommy let out a little laugh. "Between everything going on right now if I ever have time to do it again I'd love to." He had plenty of research of his own to worry about, add in Kim and rangering and it didn't leave him much time to swing by and teach Rocky's kids.

"I know that feeling." Rocky replied. The one thing he remembered about trying to work in being a ranger with everything else was that it made an already hectic schedule even more so. It was simpler with Zordon around. He took care of everything and all they had to do was fight when needed.

"I'm going to take a shower then I think I'm heading off." Tommy told him. Kim would be over at his place that afternoon and he was looking forward to spending time with her.

"Alright. I'll see you later." Rocky said. As Tommy walked off Rocky grabbed his folder of new sign ups and headed into his office.

* * *

Jason, Kim and Carri found themselves walking down the small strip of stores near the diner they had eaten their brunch at. The girls had tried to drag Jason into several stores for sales but so far he had managed to keep them out of most of the clothing shops.

"You girls having fun?" Jason asked as he looked up toward the upcoming stores

Kim crossed her eyes and glared at him. "It would be better if you'd let us shop."

Jason couldn't help but laugh at her as he noticed them approach Barnes and Noble. He deliberately slowed his pace a little to make sure the girls stopped and glared through the window.

"At least I got the top from the window." Carri announced proudly, holding up the bag from the one store that Jason couldn't keep her from going in. She'd seen a shirt on the mannequin and she had to have it.

Kim clutched the smaller bag in her hand. "Yeah that store wasn't a loss. But," she started stopping suddenly as she glanced in the bookstore window. "I didn't know the new book was out!"

Carri stopped and turned toward the window, which behind the glass held a poster that read "Luke Kirk's Greatest Adventure Yet". She walked up to the window to examine the book cover. "I can't believe you didn't tell us."

"Surprise." he said with a smile. "I have copies for you girls of course. It's only been out for a week, but I thought it would be more fun to show you than tell you."

"Oh... my... God..." Carri stated as she examined the cover. Gracing the front of the book were the images of two of the hero's from the book. One, the heroine, was standing on the side with her head back and her hair flying in the imaginary wind, with her cleavage hanging out of the skimpy space aged battle suit she wore. The hero stood at the front, next to her with his arms crossed to show off his muscle in a more advanced looking space aged battle suit. Both resembled Kim and Tommy.

"Jason!" Kim squealed as Carri grabbed her hand and led her into the bookstore. The two girls ran and picked up copies of the book as Jason followed them in. They both read the back cover.

"Ok so let me see if I've got this." Carri said giggling as she got ready to sum the book up. "This is about your hero, who is strong and all the girls swoon for him and he's a genius on the battlefield but not quite so in real life. This hero has to save the universe from evil plan X or whatever. All the while he falls in love with the heroine, who's with someone else so while he's trying to save the universe he simultaneously has to woo her away from the man she thinks she's in love with. That sounds vaguely familiar."

Carri burst into a fit of laughter as Kim turned to Jason. "I hate you." she said as calmly as she could with the meanest face she could possibly come up with

"Oh come on Kim. That's only the main plot. There's a subplot as well." Jason replied looking over at Carri who by this time had tears running down her face she was laughing so hard. "There's a second hero. While our main hero is fighting the huge battle to save the universe, his partner, the second hero, is running smaller missions that need to be accomplished in order to aid in the main battle. Our second hero finds himself involved with the sister of the main heroine. Our second heroine has quite a temper. So much so that before she gets involved with our other hero she catches an intergalactic princess trying to seduce him. She decides in a moment of jealous rage to use the princess to show how she feels about the second hero so she punches her, breaking her nose, before jumping the second hero and screwing his brains out."

Carri suddenly stopped laughing and stood straight up, crossing her arms and glaring at Jason. "You suck."

"Ha ha." Kim said blandly turning to her friend and giving her a huge fake smile

Jason tried not to laugh as the girls looked at him. He was glad they didn't have the power to literally burn him with their stare as he thought they were trying. They'd get over it though. They were the only three people who'd ever know that the romantic parts of the book were based on real life events. He was glad he threw all that stuff in. The book was quickly becoming a huge success because of it. The funny thing was he had basically rewritten in over the course of a week. The original novel had the parts with Carri and Rocky in it. But once Kim and Tommy got back together he couldn't help but rewrite it to include their love life as well.

"Whatever." Carri said out of the blue as she walked off. She looked at the bestseller's wall and couldn't help but see Jason's book in the number one spot. She picked it up and glanced at some of the reviews. Everyone loved it. It was a great mix of science fiction and action with a little bit of romance thrown in to complete the package. "I can't believe people love this book."

"That's just great. The whole world is going to be reading it." Kim said with a huff. Truthfully both girls were happy with his success even though he threw their love lives in with his ranger based adventures. However they weren't going to let him know that. Besides it was still their love lives that millions of readers would be discussing with their friends at work and in their book clubs and the girls hated that part. "Stupid book." Kim added for good measure

The two girls crossed their arms and headed out of the bookstore. Jason followed behind them with a smile on his face. "So just let me know whenever you want to read it and I'll get it for you."

"I think we have a good idea how that one goes." Carri replied turning back toward him and rolling her eyes

"There are some parts you don't know. So if you change your mind just let me know." Jason replied. He figured they'd eventually read it once they got over the fact that their relationships were in it. Of course who only knew how long that would take. "You girls don't hate me do you?" Jason questioned trying to get them to stop and talk to him.

Much like he thought they would the girls stopped walking. "Maybe." Kim replied

"We do hate your book." Carri added

"That's too bad. Maybe you won't hate the sequel." he told them. "It's going to continue to follow the lives of the four hero's. I have the action parts in mind. But I am going to intertwine some more romance. People seem to love that so far. So, what's been going on with you and your boyfriends lately?"

"Is he serious?" Kim asked turning toward Carri

Carri crossed her arms and made a face. "I hope he knows there's no chance in hell we're going to give him juicy tidbits about our love lives for his next book." she laughed a little bit and she and Kim started walking again.

Jason quickly caught up to them and scooted between them, putting his arms around him. "Fine. If you feel that way." he replied. It was hopeless to ask now. But they always told each other everything. And he figured eventually he would be able to get tidbits from them to make the sequel as much fun as this first book was.

* * *

Callisto wondered through the palace looking for Rhianna. She was tired of letting those rangers slack on Earth while she reworked her plans. What they needed to do was send down a monster, if anything just for the chance to kick them around a little bit, maybe injure them, but definitely keep them on their toes. Of course since she couldn't make a monster she'd have to find the one person who could.

She headed around the castle until she approached Rhianna's chambers. She opened the door and let herself in. She was surprised to find Rhianna sitting in front of a small orb, viewing a Earth children's TV show. It was easy for the goddess to forget that these were the simple things that someone of her age was supposed to be enjoying. She would be doing children's things as technically she was still a child.

Perhaps that was what made her the less than ideal battle candidate, but as much as she hated to admit it she needed her. Her ultimate plan was no good without Rhianna's powers, and she wasn't going to get her revenge without her. On that end Rhianna needed Callisto as much as the goddess needed her, as she wanted revenge as well and Callisto was her best way to get it.

"Rhianna." Callisto said as snapped her attention toward her. "I am working on some plans, a way to defeat them."

"How long with that take?" Rhianna asked

The goddess shook her head. "I don' t know. I have to gather some information. It may be a while."

"What do we do until then?" Rhianna asked

"We certainly don't let the rangers sit comfortably thinking they've won." Callisto replied. "We have to think of the worst monsters we can and send them down to attack."

"When do you want to attack?" Rhianna questioned looking over at her

"As soon as possible. Think of a monster you want to create. Once it's ready we'll send it down with the Cirranadrones." Callisto told her

"Alright." Rhianna replied as she watched the goddess exit her room. She turned back to the Earth programing she was watching before Callisto came in. She found herself amused by the children's television shows. She was amused by a lot of things that Earth children were amused by.

She supposed it was alright, after all she was only a child herself. She was slowly learning the things she needed to know to be a grown up, a strong warrior, a leader. She was thankful for all the influences in her life. For Goldar, Cratus, and even Callisto. Her parents would've been proud of her. She was becoming more evil everyday. At night all she could dream about were ways she was going to torture and dismember the rangers on her way to conquering their pathetic little planet that her parents wanted all those years ago.

In thinking about killing the rangers she had an idea. One of the characters on the show she was watching struck her as kind of odd. Odd enough that she thought she could make him delightfully evil. In fact, he would make a good monster. He seemed crafty enough to defeat those rangers and she was certain he would be worth her efforts.

Yes, he would be perfect. With a wave of her staff she pulled the character out of the show and in front of her. As he looked at her and bowed she knew he could get the job done. It was time to summon the Cirranadrones and take on the rangers.

* * *

Billy sat in the Command Chamber working on some things that needed to be done. For a brief moment he stopped and stared at his assistant, watching as she worked gracefully on the task he'd given to her. She glanced in his direction and stopped working as she noticed him stare. Casting a smile in his direction she spoke. "Does something over here interest you?"

"Mrs. Cranston you always interest me." Billy replied. Mrs. Cranston. He never could get enough of that name. That the woman he loved through high school returned his affections. Not only did she love him back, but she married him, they were one now.

"That much I've always known." Trini replied looking back over at what she was doing. She could tell he liked her in high school, and although she was always interested she never did make a move toward him. Although he never did make a move toward her either which is why she assumed that his interest wasn't as great as she thought it was.

Billy sighed as he went back to what he was doing. He was grateful that she had volunteered to help him out in the Command Chamber that afternoon. He had things to do and it would have been lonely without her. He glanced over at her one more time as she stood up and bent over one of the consoles to get a closer look at something. He was resisting the urge to take her right then and there. Besides the fact that he had weapons and zords upgrades to get done, the one thing holding him back was the fact that the rangers were always in and out of there and it would be his luck they'd pop in on him. They shouldn't be much longer though and then he wouldn't hesitate to take his wife home.

"So what do you want to do this afternoon?" Trini said absentmindedly as if she knew he had been thinking about his plans for later

Billy shrugged his shoulders in response although he knew perfectly well what he wanted to do that afternoon. "Maybe we can just go back to the house, hang around."

"That would be nice." Trini replied looking up and flashing him a brief smile. By hang around she assumed he meant fool around, which was fine with her. She loved the level of intimacy they had with each other and she loved every moment they spent expressing it.

Billy nodded and tried to concentrate back on his work. It was hard as Trini had become at the forefront of his thoughts. He couldn't help but think about all the reasons why he loved her. She was so passionate in life. She was a good lawyer, a wonderful wife, and one day she's make a wonderful mother.

A mother. Something he'd been thinking about quite often since their return from the alternate universe. That Trini had become pregnant, which made him think that one day his Trini would become pregnant and one day they would have a child of their own. For a moment he thought about how he hoped that if his wife got pregnant it would be under better circumstances.

As much as he didn't want to, he couldn't help but think about what was going on during the alternate's pregnancy. About Teeg, Kemora and the towers. About the world ending and everything in such chaos. He was glad he was there, glad he was able to gather information. He thought about the alternate Carri's warning, to learn all they could about the towers. Any information they could gather would help them in the future if they needed it. He prayed daily that they'd never need it. But in order to plan for the worst he had copied every bit of information they had and brought it back home. He stored it in several places, hoping he'd never have to look at it again.

The alarms suddenly went off as Billy was deep in his own thoughts. He was somewhat relieved as it tore him away from having to think about the alternate universe. Trini stood and followed him as he headed out of his lab and back to the main room, quickly pulling the disturbance up on screen.

Trini snickered softly behind him as the monster came into focus. "I guess we should alert the others to deal with him." she said before she giggled

"Funny or not, he's still a monster." Billy reminded her, but one glance at his wife caused him to smile as well as he went to contact the rangers.

* * *

Carri found herself heading down the streets of Angel Grove in the direction of her office. She was done with her morning with Kim and Jason which had been more eventful than she had expected. Although she and Kim were speaking to Jason now, she still couldn't believe that he'd used their love lives in his book and it irked her.

For the moment though she was planning on forgetting about it as she wanted to attend to some things in her office that she needed to look at. She had some tapes to look at and some papers to go over and other things that had been left for her since she was last in the office. She could take everything home and do it there, but Rocky was going to be there that afternoon and she wanted to spend time with him and not worrying about her final show. By the end of the week everything would be as perfect as she was going to get it and she could relax for a while, her only job being to check out cities until the official word came down from the network.

As she headed down the street a familiar voice called her name. She turned to see the face of a man she hadn't seen since graduation. "Matt?" she called out unsure if it was really her old friend or not

"It's good to see you." Matt Drake said as he walked up to her and gave her a hug. "It's been a long time."

She quickly hugged him back then let go. "Since college. Man it's hard to believe it's been that long since we've seen each other." This was the guy that she hung out with constantly through middle school, and was friends with again once she moved back to Angel Grove the summer before her senior year of high school. At once point in her life he knew everything about her, and he still did know odd tidbits about her childhood that noone else in her life knew.

"What have you been up to?" he asked. He couldn't believe he'd run into her here. This was one of his oldest friends and he was sad that they'd fallen out of touch. Maybe now they could be friends again.

"A lot of work. I've got my own production company. And a show. Traveling in Style. It's on TLC." she told him with a smile

"Well that explains why I haven't seen it." Matt joked as he laughed. "If I can figure out where TLC is I'll try and catch it."

"What about you? What have you been doing since college?" Carri asked. For a brief moment she thought about her answer to that question and how she'd been "traveling the world". She hoped he wouldn't ask her for any details if it came up as she couldn't come up with any good ones.

"I've been playing soccer of course." he replied with a grin. "I've been playing for the Galaxy the last few years. It's been fun, I've done well. I was one of the stars on the team until they signed Beckham. Now he's the one and only star."

Carri grinned slightly. She didn't keep up much with soccer but as a new producer she was paying attention to entertainment news. And apparently the Beckham's moving to America was huge. "So you got overshadowed by the worlds biggest soccer star. It would be like Angelina Jolie joining my show. Sure people love me now, but they'd forget about me if Angelina was there."

"Yeah. Gotta love Angelina." Matt replied as Carri laughed at him

Before she could say anything in response her communicator went off. "There's my phone. They're looking for me in the office so I'd better get going." she said quickly

"Alright. Well we need to get together sometime and catch up." Matt told her

"Yeah definitely." she said as she started to walk off

Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Let me get your number and I'll give you a call sometime."

"Sure." she said. She quickly gave him her telephone number just as her communicator went off again. Giving him a quick goodbye she jogged the rest of her way to Ausus productions and let herself into the building, flying back to her office and shutting the door so she could answer the page and teleport off.

* * *

Jason sat on his back porch lounging in a chair, beer in one hand cell phone in the other. He had promised Michelle that he would call her. He didn't know what he was going to say. They had a date that night and they had talked about going out before then.

He wanted to go out with her, to make it work. But the girls were right. If he didn't think she could accept that he had work related issues he had to take care of then maybe he ought to end it before something bad happened. With a sigh he took his phone and browsed through the contact list until he came across her name. He hit the send button. He wanted to talk to her, to go out with her that day. He wanted to get a feel for what she was thinking.

The phone rang twice before she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey." Jason replied as he took a swig of his beer

"Jason hey." she said her voice perking up. "I'm glad to hear from you."

"I told you I'd call. When have I ever lied about that." Jason joked

Michelle let out a small laugh but truthfully sometimes he called much later than when he said he'd call. He always blamed work but it bothered her that she didn't really truly know what he did or what was going on. "So what's going on?"

"I was thinking if you're still interested in seeing me this afternoon I could pick you up on my bike and we could head down to a remote little area I've found and enjoy the view until it's time to come back to Angel Grove to go out." Jason suggested. It would be fun and relaxing, and best of all it would give him time to talk to her.

"That sounds like fun." Michelle replied. And romantic, and it would probably be the perfect afternoon. Now she'd just have to figure out something to wear that would be perfect for their afternoon and evening out.

"What time do you want me to pick you up?" Jason asked. She sounded excited. This may be good for the two of them, it may give them a chance.

"Give me a half hour then we can go." she replied. If she hurried she could get ready in thirty minutes.

"Sounds good." Jason said just as his communicator went off. "Shit." he muttered under his breath

"What was that?" Michelle asked. She was pretty well aware of what he said, she just wasn't sure what was going on.

Jason let out a sigh. "I hate to do this but work just called on the other line."

"So what, you're going to run off to work this afternoon?" Michelle asked as she was starting to feel angry

"I don't have a choice." he replied

"What kind of job is it that calls you and you go? Can't you tell them just this once to find someone else? We have a romantic afternoon planned." Michelle was practically yelling as she spoke. It never failed. Just as they were going to do something he had to run off to work. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

"I can't. They wouldn't call if it wasn't important." Jason assured her. Besides he wouldn't not go on a ranger related mission.

"So work is more important than seeing me?" she snapped

Jason quickly took the last swig of his beer as her words danced around his head. "Look hopefully this won't take long. I'll call you when it's finished and we'll go out."

"Fine." she said angrily

Jason hung up the phone and went to answer his communicator. Upon realizing there was a monster attack he quickly morphed and headed to the scene.

* * *

Kim strolled into the front door of Tommy's apartment building after returning from her morning with Jason and Carri. "Hello?" she called out as she let herself in. She shut the door behind her and walked into the small kitchen, setting her keys down on the counter. "Tommy?"

"In here." Tommy replied as he walked out of the office. "Hey." he greeted Kim, walking over to her and throwing his arms around her giving her a big kiss

"Hey." she replied returning the kiss before stepping back. "How was class?"

"It was good." Tommy replied smiling at her. "I had fun. Hopefully I can do it again sometime."

Kim nodded. She knew he missed his karate classes at the Youth Center. It was nice of Rocky to let him be a guest instructor at his school. "I'm sure Rocky will let you come back and help out."

"Yeah." he said. "So how was brunch?"

"It was brunch." she said not sure what she wanted to tell him about it. She obviously couldn't talk about their trip to the bookstore and their love life being the center of a Luke Kirk novel as Tommy had no clue who Luke Kirk was and Jason preferred to keep it that way. "We ate and we walked by the stores. We managed to drag Jason into one."

"Sounds like fun." Tommy replied as his girlfriend smiled at him. "So I was thinking we should do something romantic tonight."

"Like what?" Kim questioned as she put her arms around him and grinned at him

Tommy put his arms around her as well. "Like I don't know. I was hoping we could think of that together."

"Mmm." Kim said as she buried her head in his chest and thought for a moment. "I know what to do." she said lifting her head back and looking up at him. "We'll cook dinner, pack it in a picnic basket, and have a romantic moonlight dinner in the park by the lake."

"I like the way you think." Tommy said as he pulled her up to him and gave her a kiss. "So I take it you're staying with me tonight?"

"Of course. I always stay with you." Kim replied

Tommy thought about her statement for a moment. She did stay with him most nights. She was always over at his apartment, and she was becoming more like a visitor in the house she technically shared with Carri. He should ask her to move in there with him. After all she was practically moved in anyway.

He couldn't help but wonder if it was too soon. Sure they had been back together for two months and they had a rich history before that, but so much had happened he wasn't sure if she'd be ready to officially move in. It was easy when she didn't live here, she always had the option of going home. But he loved her and he hated spending time without her. He definitely wanted to ask her to move in with him, he'd just have to wait until the time was right.

"Maybe we should get a menu and prep food for tonight." Kim suggested pulling Tommy out of his thoughts. "We can get meat and vegetables and soak them to give them some flavor."

"That sounds good." Tommy replied just as his communicator went off. He let out a sigh as he went to answer it. It always went off when he and Kim were in the middle of something. But it was alright, it was their duty after all.

"Go ahead." Tommy said

"You're needed in the park immediately." Billy replied

"We're on it." Tommy said looking down at Kim who broke away from him. "It's morphin time!"

* * *

Kat pulled into the driveway of her cousin's Angel Grove home. She wanted to talk to her face to face, to tell her what was going on. She never knew when to find her but it was a Saturday so she assumed that she had to be home. She stepped out of the door of her four door sedan and walked up to the front to ring the bell.

A few seconds later someone answered, but not the someone she expected. "Rocky, hey." Kat greeted

"Hey Kat. Come on in." Rocky replied opening the door for her. He had finished up at his school and scooted over to Carri's house. She called him earlier, said that she was going to stop by the office and then she would be there.

Kat followed Rocky into the livingroom and had a seat on the couch. "So is my cousin around?" she questioned. If Rocky was there she had to be there.

"No she's at work. She'll be back soon." Rocky replied

"Oh." Kat said looking at him curiously. "I didn't know you lived her."

Rocky smiled at her. "I don't live here. Carri gave me a spare key. That way I can drop in if she and Kim aren't around."

"Right." Kat said smiling briefly and nodding. She let out a sigh. She wasn't sure if she wanted to wait for Carri but then again she didn't want this trip to be for nothing.

"What's wrong?" Rocky asked. Despite the two cousin's grievances, he and Kat were still old friends and he hated to see her upset.

"It's just... you know the baby is coming soon. And we're still working on how we're going to pay for it." Kat said. The subject was still sore and she could feel tears forming again. "Then Chris is still looking for a job. He has an interview this week and he thinks he'll get the job but we still won't get the insurance until after the baby's born."

Kat stood as she didn't want to bawl in front of Rocky. She walked around the couch and walked into the kitchen. Fumbling she looked through the cabinets and found a class, filling it with tap water so she could try to drink and calm herself down. She took the glass over to the kitchen table and noticed a folder that Carri had left sitting open full of newspaper clippings.

"I'm sorry." Rocky said as he stood up from the couch and went to sit over at the table

"It's ok. It's just hard." she replied. She thought about how she worked so hard and life still wasn't a walk in the park as she looked over the clippings and saw them to be reviews for Carri's show. It upset her a bit to see that this show had become such a success and it seemed to come so easily to Carri. She sighed as here she was sitting in her cousin's home with her boyfriend who owns three successful karate schools.

It seemed effortless for Carri to get the home, the job, the stable boyfriend... Kat couldn't help but be a bit jealous of it all. She supposed she shouldn't be. She was the one with the steady job as Carri's show could easily fold. She was the one who had the husband and the home and the baby on the way. She had everything every girl ever dreamed of. Carri messed her life up with her continued insistence on being a part of the rangers.

Kat stood up with a sigh and looked around the house. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hallway." Rocky replied pointing toward a small door that led to the hall where the bedrooms, bathrooms and office were located.

"Thanks." Kat said as she walked toward the bathroom. She walked by the guestroom on her way to the bathroom and noticed her grandmother's furniture with Kim's clothes strewn all over them. As she headed into the bathroom Kim's things were also all over the sink as this was her bathroom.

She stopped and stared at herself in the mirror, splashing her face with water and drying it off with the hand towel before walking back into the livingroom. Seeing all of Kim's things everywhere reminded her of how Kim had become like a sister to her cousin since college, and she had become nothing more than a casual acquaintance. Of course they both let it get that way but that didn't mean she didn't regret some of the things that happened.

"I miss high school sometimes." Kat admitted as she sat back down at the table across from Rocky. "Those were the days. We were all Zeo's together, I was with Tommy, Carri was my best friend."

"Things change. People change. Everyone grew apart." Rocky pointed out

"Tommy and I grew apart." Kat said thinking for a moment about their relationship. Although she was happy with Chris, in a way her relationship with Tommy still nagged at her. "Carri and I... well that exploded with her not bothering to come to my wedding." she said a little more harshly than she intended

"Kat." Rocky stated intending on going into detail to remind her of the importance of Carri's mission but he was stopped short when his communicator went off.

Kat sighed. "I know, you have to go save the world." she said as she stood. "I'll let myself out."

From the corner of her eye she watched as Rocky answered the page then went to morph as she headed out the front door. Her conversations with Carri would have to be saved for another time.

* * *

Rocky arrived on the scene just in time to see the girls doubling over with laughter. One look at the monster and it was easy to see why. He cursed under his breath as the absurdity of the monster didn't matter as they had a battle to fight.

"Come on let's take out the Cirranadrones then work on him." Tommy said already getting agitated by the girl's not taking the monster seriously as the Cirranadrones were quickly closing in.

"Please Tommy we have to be afraid of him?" Carri asked kicking a Cirranadrone back before getting pushed back into Kim by another Cirranadrone. She turned to look at the pink ranger as both girls burst into laughter again, allowing themselves to get attacked by Cirranadrones momentarily. Suddenly Carri couldn't help herself. "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

"SpongeBob SquarePants!" Kim replied with enough enthusiasm that Carri found tears rolling down her cheeks from laughter for the second time that day

"You think I'm funny?" SpongeBob questioned the two female rangers

"Oh! And he even has the same annoying voice!" Kim exclaimed as the two girls stood together and tried not to die with laughter again

"That wasn't very nice." SpongeBob scolded as he shot laser beams from his eyes, hitting the two females who were too busy being amused rather than fighting

The two girls hit the ground hard and were slow to get up. "Talk about not being nice." Carri grumbled

"Come on he's still a serious monster!" Jason hollered across the battlefield as he continued to rapidly take on the Cirranadrones

"Whatever." Kim replied rolling her eyes. "You think all his friends will show up? Because, you know, that will just make my day."

"Naw. Besides just beating the sponge will be good enough to make the day." Carri said as for a brief second she got serious. "Power daggers!"

"Power bow!" Kim called out. Both girls wanted to make quick work of SpongeBob before they got themselves into trouble.

Carri leaped at him first, clicking her daggers together and attacking full force. The blast was absorbed by the sponge and then she hit the sponge and sunk in before bouncing off. Kim fired multiple arrows but they all went right through the sponge pores. She landed on the ground beside Carri as her friend was laughing so hard she was clutching her sides. Seeing her laugh like that got Kim started again as well.

"My turn to play." SpongeBob replied as he went to fire lasers at them again

Kim laughed as he spoke before she and Carri barely scrambled out of the way. As the laser beams barely missed, SpongeBob ran to the girls and started to fight them head on. "Oh yeah I forgot he knew karate." Kim said. "Somewhat." she added as he flubbed a move and the girls took advantage and knocked him back

"Do you think we're crushing the feelings of every child in America by beating the crap out of SpongeBob?" Carri asked as she rolled out of the way of an oncoming punch

"Yeah. But oddly it feels kinda good." Kim replied causing Carri to giggle again as she started to stand up. Their amusement was providing quite a distraction to the battle, and as Carri stood she never noticed SpongeBob go to kick her. The unsuspecting yellow ranger sailed in the air and flipped backwards.

"Who knew a sponge could kick." she said as she stood up and shook off the kick. She was more embarrassed to be kicked by SpongeBob than hurt, and she ran to him with a vengeance and unleashed some moves of her own.

As Carri went for a round with the sponge, Tommy ran toward Kim with Jason and Rocky close behind. "We need to end this now." he said sternly. He was tired of watching them goof around with SpongeBob, who actually had some power, when they needed to be trying to figure out how to destroy him.

"He absorbed our individual power weapons." Kim quickly pointed out

"Then let's use the power cannon." Tommy replied. He yelled at Carri to come into formation with the others. As she did they called for the Power Cannon and fired it at SpongeBob, sending him flying into a million pieces.

"Aw look at all the little sponges." Carri said as pieces of sponge flew around them

It didn't last long as the pieces started to merge back together, growing as they did until they loomed high over the rangers. Carri giggled and Kim nudged her and pointed to the members of the press that were gathering to watch the fight. "Do you think this will be bad publicity? Power Rangers destroyed SpongeBob SquarePants."

Carri looked at Kim and they both laughed. "Hey we might get some thank you notes from some parents."

Kim glanced back and saw three of the zords come running toward the monster. "Shit." she cursed. The others weren't going to be happy with them. She didn't even hear them take off. "Come on let's go."

Within seconds the crane and panther zords joined the battle. Once the girls arrived Tommy was quick to bring the zords together to take SpongeBob down for good.

* * *

Callisto watched the rangers easily finish off Rhianna's monster. If you could call it a monster. Sure it had powers and wanted to kill the rangers. But it was SpongeBob SquarePants, a children's cartoon. She supposed she should've expected it, after all Rhianna was watching cartoons when she made her choice of monster. In the future Callisto was going to have to sit down with her and tell her what makes a good choice for a monster. She was trying to learn, and she tried to have an eye for evil, but she was still to young and to new to this to be able to pick what was going to make a good evil monster.

Any cartoon character that was good by nature and had no truly evil tendencies wouldn't make a good monster. If she picked a villain from a superhero cartoon, they would be pleasantly evil and could give the rangers something to worry about. Of course SpongeBob did give the girls trouble, but that was only because they were too busy being amused by the situation.

Callisto sighed. She was just going to have to put up with the monsters while she continued her work. The last big battle was a huge setback. She wasn't expecting the rangers to come up with powers like that. She was hoping they would've had a victory there and she wouldn't have to worry about the next phase of her plan.

Not only did they not win, but they got pushed down a few notches. She was going to have to claw her way back up as she worked on the original plans she had for the destruction of the rangers and Rhianna's conquering of Earth. She was going to have to start from scratch. She had abandoned her plans when she thought she had the ultimate solution in the power ups to her army.

It was going to start with research and other things that would give her a headache. But it would all be worth it in the end. She would be able to get the power she needed to destroy those rangers for good.

* * *

Tommy and Kim teleported back to his apartment after the battle. Kim went into the kitchen and started rummaging through things she could use for their dinner. "We need to come up with a menu. I'd like to start getting things together." she said as she paused and turned toward Tommy

The white ranger stood with his arms held firmly across his chest and a sour look on his face. "I can not believe how you two acted in battle." Tommy scolded. "Especially you. You're a red, you should know better."

Kim was quick to cross her arms and stare back at him. "Oh come on Tommy. The SpongeBob monster was lame. And funny. And we were just having a good time."

"And what if you had gotten yourself killed out there? Those lasers in his eyes packed serious power." Tommy was quick to point out

"We were having fun. But we weren't stupid." Kim defended their actions as Tommy snorted.

"Even if you don't think you would've gotten killed, it was stupid of you as a Planetary red, a galactic leader, to stand out there and be too busy laughing at a monster to fight it." Tommy replied. It drove him crazy to watch as the two female rangers cracked jokes and half fought.

Kim gave him one of her over dramatic eye rolls. "Please who intergalactically was going to see us out there laughing at the SpongeBob monster?"

"That's not the point." Tommy reminded her

"You're just upset because we weren't acting professional and you couldn't get us to pay attention." Kim pointed out. She knew Tommy, and he wanted his team to go out there and act strong as a team and he expected nothing less on the battlefield.

Tommy didn't say anything as she was partially right. Not only was it hard to watch a red misbehave and worry she was going to get herself killed, but it was hard to watch his teammates act like a couple of kids when there was a battle to be fought. It was his team and he expected them to stay in line, especially the girls as they knew what was at stake more than anybody.

"Look Tommy I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Kim promised although she wasn't sure if she could make that particular promise. She'd have to say something to Carri or else they'd both suffer the wrath of Tommy. "It was just funny, you know?"

"I'll give you that much. Them sending down a SpongeBob monster was kind of funny." Tommy said letting his guard down a little. He could tell Kim knew their behavior was out of line. "Apology accepted."

Kim walked over toward him and put her arms around him. "So now can we concentrate on dinner?" she asked as she buried her head in his chest

Much like every other time she wrapped her arms around him, the warmth of her body against his drove him crazy. "It's a while until dinner."

"If you want to have the most amazing dinner of your life you have to get a head start on it." Kim pointed out. She thought the evening would be fun and romantic and she wanted it to be perfect. She loved Tommy and didn't want to do anything less for him.

"I'm sure no matter when we start dinner it will be excellent." Tommy assured her. Frankly he didn't give a damn what was for dinner, it could be a bowl of rice for all he cared. What he looked forward to was the romantic evening under the stars with Kim.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence." she replied as she glanced up and gave him a kiss

"Besides," he started wrapping his arms tightly around her, "I can think of other things we could be doing right now."

"Like what?" Kim asked raising an eyebrow although she was pretty sure of what he was eluding to

"Like this." Tommy said as much to her surprise, he swept her off of her feet and carried her into the bedroom.

* * *

Late that afternoon Carri pulled her car into her garage. She had spent longer than she'd wanted to at work and now she was ready to relax for a little while. She hit the button to close the garage as she opened the door to head inside.

She walked into the living room and tossed her keys and phone down on one of the end tables before crashing on the couch next to her boyfriend. "Hey." she greeted leaning over and giving him a quick kiss

"Hey." he replied flashing her a smile

"How was your day?" she questioned. It was the first time they'd spoken all day besides the battle and she was curious as to how his guest instructor session went.

"It was ok." Rocky replied glancing over at her. "I wasn't too thrilled about the part where my girlfriend tried to get herself killed by SpongeBob SquarePants." He had been more than a little annoyed with her actions during their fight that afternoon. Every time she doubled over with laughter instead of pay attention to the monster he tensed up, afraid of watching her get herself killed. It was hard enough watching her put herself into situations where she was fully aware of the danger she was getting into, but it was nearly impossible watching her not care about the danger of battle.

Carri dramatically rolled her eyes. "Please I was in no danger of getting killed. We were just having a little fun. And SpongeBob is gone so no worries." she said before quickly changing the subject. "Besides I wasn't talking about battle I know what happened there. How did your classes go this morning with Tommy?"

Rocky sighed. She wasn't going to discuss it and he didn't want to start an argument over it. Nothing good would come out of it as she would just argue that she knew what she was doing. Most of the time she did and if he tried to argue with her that she didn't it would just be a mess. So he let it drop for the moment and answered her question. "They went well. I think the kids really liked him." he replied glancing over at her. "What about you? How was your day?"

"Brunch was brunch. Then I went over to the office for a while and got some work done. Hopefully Monday they can run with some of the stuff I did and we can get that last show wrapped up." Carri informed him

"That'll be good." Rocky replied as he lazily draped his arm around her then tugged her into him. "Kat dropped by this afternoon."

"Oh?" Carri questioned relatively surprised. "What did she want?"

"To talk." Rocky said

Carri let out a sigh. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It's a good thing." Rocky assured her. At least he thought it was. They were both trying to make amends and he couldn't imagine Kat had poor intentions when she came over. "I mean she does still seem kinda upset about things like the whole wedding thing and college with Tommy and you and Kim." The look on his girlfriends face made him instantly regret the comment. If they were ever going to be close again he shouldn't point out those things.

Carri made a grunting noise as she looked over at her boyfriend. Of course she would still be upset. Carri wanted to mend their friendship but Kat was good at holding grudges. Just when she thought her cousin had moved past something she'd be reminded of it and bring it up again. "If we get back on the same page again we do. If not, I'm not going to worry." Not that she worried about it before although she did want to be friends again.

"Kat's still your family." Rocky pointed out. He was very close with his family and he hated to see it when she was at odds with hers.

"My blood relatives are just that. You guys - the rangers - they're my family." she replied. It had been that way for a long time, ever since she moved by herself to Angel Grove. Her parents loved her, but they were too busy in their own lives to care enough to visit or make much contact with her. As for her aunt and uncle, well she wasn't their daughter and although they cared she never really felt like they were a family. By the time she was in college the people she was the closest with and leaned on for support were the rangers.

Rocky squeezed her a little tighter as he didn't have anything to say. There was a brief silence between the two of them before he looked down at her and changed the subject. "So do you want to go to dinner tonight?"

"Yeah that sounds fun." she replied as she looked up at him and flashed him a smile

He gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head. "I've got this great place in mind." he said as he stood up and gently pulled her with them. The duo then collected their things and headed out to the car to go have a nice quiet dinner.

* * *

Jason jumped into his car to go pick Michelle up a lot later than he should have. He should have gone to get her when they were done battling SpongeBob. But he had so much to think about where his relationship with Michelle was concerned he didn't end up calling her until much later. She was, of course, agitated with him over the phone but she still wanted him to pick her up as planned.

Jason wasn't sure how this was going to go. He still wanted to try to take her out like he'd planned and see how the evening went. He thought about what was going to happen as he pulled his car into her driveway and cut the engine off. Instead of jumping right out he found himself sitting in the driver seat for a moment before opening the door. Once outside he walked briskly up to her front door and rang the bell.

A few seconds later she opened it and gave him a smile. "Glad you could make it." she said with a slight sting to her words

Jason cringed. This was what he didn't want his night to be like. "Sorry about earlier." he said sincerely as she stepped back from the door and let him come in

Michelle shut the door behind him and went to grab her purse. "It happens all the time." she pointed out. She didn't want to start an argument. But she was sick and tired of him bailing out on her constantly.

"It's my work. There's not much I can do about it." Jason was quick to point out

"Then quit. If it interferes in your life like that then it's not worth it." She really liked Jason but she wasn't sure she could accept a man who was always off with his job.

"It's not that simple." Jason replied. He wouldn't quit being a ranger. Not for her, or for any other woman. The more she indicated that she didn't accept that his work was important, the more he wanted to leave and forget the whole damn date to begin with.

"Yes it is." Michelle said as she stopped and caught her eyes with his, holding her stare there. "You can't let your job run your life. It will cost you everything."

Jason couldn't stop himself from snorting. His "job" was what brought him everything he had in life. His career as a writer, his close relationship with his friends, almost everything in his life he owed to being a ranger. He really liked Michelle but he wasn't going to stand here while she told him to quit being a ranger to spend more time with her.

"You may not see it now but you will." Michelle assured him crossing her arms. She was more than a little unhappy with him snorting in response to her. "Your friends, your family, your lover... work can consume you I've seen it happen more than once. Everyone will leave you and when you crash there will be noone standing by your side."

"You know Michelle we shouldn't argue about this." Jason said looking her over. It wasn't up for discussion and he was done with it.

"You're right we shouldn't." she agreed. It wasn't worth it and if he could just see where she was coming from there would be no need to argue about it. "It's just hard for me to be constantly put on the back burner for your job. I need more than that."

"I know this is hard for you to understand but my job is important, it means everything to me." Jason said pausing for a moment. He had a feeling this would be coming but he was hoping he was wrong. There was nothing more to do than just say it. "And if you can't accept that then maybe we shouldn't see each other anymore."

Michelle swallowed hard. She knew they both liked each other a lot. She was hoping that he would see her point and things would change but it looked as though that wasn't going to be the case. "I'm sorry you feel that way." Michelle finally replied. And she really was sorry that it was going to end this way. "If what you do is more important than me then we're through." She was trying her hardest to stand strong and not tear up as she spoke. It was a hard thing to do but it had to be done. She stepped closely to Jason, brushing her body against his as she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for our time together."

Jason said nothing in reply as he simply turned and walked out the door. This was the way it was going and there was nothing he could do, nothing he was able to do about it. He quickly walked back to his SUV and climbed into the drivers seat, cranking it up and pulling out of the driveway.

As he put the car in drive he had no idea where he was going, he was just moving. He couldn't help but wonder if he was ever going to find someone he could love. True love and happiness came easily to his friends but for whatever reason it didn't to him. That wasn't completely true. It did once, and as he thought about it Emily's image once again came drifting into his thoughts. It haunted him now and he didn't know why. He took a deep breath and pushed the image out of his head.

He needed to relax and gather his thoughts. The first place that came to mind was the bar he spent so much time hanging out at. He knew the bartender, and he knew he could sit there by himself and have a beer or two in peace and quite. Mind made up, he changed directions and headed for the bar hoping to push any mentions of any of his relationships far out of his mind.


	14. The Trouble With Pink

**Disclaimer:** As usual, all things Power Rangers belong to Disney, and Callisto was created by Universal. All original characters belong to me. And any references to K or the alternate dimension are from the mind of KSuzie.  
**Author's Note:** First off for those of you not following KSuzie's "The Coin Series", what has been going on with Kim is that she was kidnapped by Kemora in the alternate dimension and thrown into the pit on Muirantias. She survives and is growing power's much like K's because of it. For further details on what's going on, head over to /kszuie and check out "The Coin Series".  
Also I am leaving for vacation on 3/31. I'll be gone a little over a week which means no writing time for a little over a week. Hopefully I can get a good chunk of chapter 15 done this week, but if it takes a long time to post that's why.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"The Trouble With Pink"

Carri stumbled out of her bedroom a little earlier than she would've liked. She didn't know what had gotten her out of bed that early. She supposed it had to do with the fact that she'd had a lot of early mornings when she was working. Although it had been a few weeks since she wrapped up her last show, some days her body still wanted to drag her up at an unruly hour. She gave up fighting it and elected to go have a cup of the coffee she'd smelled brewing.

"Morning." Carri greeted Kim, who was dressed and ready for work and trying to squeeze in some coffee before she left.

"Good morning." Kim replied, her voice chipper as Carri stood beside her and fixed her own cup of coffee. Kim watched as her best friend sauntered over toward the livingroom and collapsed on the couch, coffee in hand. Kim went over to join her so that she could catch a minute of Good Morning America before she took off.

Carri clicked the television on and to the channel of interest before clunking it down on the couch and stretching her free arm. She watched briefly as they talked about something of no interest to her. As she took a sip of her coffee Diane held up a book. Carri raised an eyebrow and turned toward Kim. Both girls looked curiously at the television screen.

"Today we are going to talk a little bit about Luke Kirk's newest book." Diane said with a smile. "This science fiction novel has crossed over into the romance genre, been printed in over a dozen languages and sold millions of copies all in the little more than a month that it has been released. This book has taken Luke Kirk from a moderately successful writer to an all out writing phenomenon."

Kim groaned loudly as they'd both had more than enough over the last few weeks of what a success this book had become. Diane continued to talk as Carri reached in between the seat cushions to try and figure out where the remote ended up depositing itself.

"The reasons for the success of this book?" Diane went on. "Well unfortunately Luke Kirk couldn't be here but we do have experts and fans to tell us why this is such a wonderful"

Diane was cut off mid-sentence as the screen went black. "Thank you." Kim muttered. "I guess we'll get all our news from the papers."

The girls stood up with their coffee cups and headed over toward the kitchen table, where Kim had strewn the newspaper earlier. She hadn't looked at it before, only tossed it down. She was the first of the two to start shifting through its pieces. One in particular caught her eye, and Kim pulled it out to show it to Carri.

The front picture of the entertainment section was an image of Luke Kirk's book. Carri rolled her eyes as she pointed to the smaller image on the front page, indicating the story was inside. "I can't believe that this stupid book has become such a success." Carri grumbled

"And we can't get away from it." Kim added. The book had become quite the phenomenon over the last few weeks and every time she or Carri turned around it was thrown in their faces that their love lives were being read and dissected by every bookworm in America. And it made no difference to them that people didn't know it was their love lives in particular that were under such scrutiny. They just died a thousand deaths every time something was said, meanwhile Jason stood beside them grinning like a little devil while trying to figure out what they and their boyfriends were currently up to.

It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't had been so popular. Both girls had dealt with people at work reading the book and discussing it amongst each other, making comments about the characters that they couldn't help but take somewhat personally. Of course sometimes it was slightly satisfying. One afternoon Kim overheard Sandy telling one of her coworkers that the book was amazing and she wished she could be Kim's character. Kim couldn't help but smugly smile as she thought about how the woman that hates her basically wants to be her.

Carri once again found herself rolling her eyes over the matter. "Whatever." she said as she stacked the newspaper up and tossed it aside. It was a huge success which was good for Jason, and noone would ever know the characters in the book were based off of them, but she still couldn't help letting the book drive her a little crazy. She paused for a moment glancing over at Kim. "Something big going on at work today?" she questioned as she couldn't help but notice that her friend was more dressed up than usual.

"I have a huge presentation today about the campaign I've been working on. One of the other guys there and I are both going to present our ideas to Ashley and she'll decided which one she wants to go with." Kim said as she grinned at her friend. She was more than a little excited. She had been preparing for this for weeks and she had what she thought was a killer idea.

"She'll choose you. Rangers always stick together." Carri commented, although she was well aware of the fact that this was the business world and that ranger relationships didn't necessarily outweigh making the best business decision.

Kim looked at her friend and rolled her eyes, declining to say anything directly about her comment. "I'm ready to do this so hopefully I'll blow her away." She only had a few more points to work out that morning before she was ready for the afternoon's big meeting. "What about you? Anything exciting going on today?"

Carri shrugged briefly before replying. "I'm having a late lunch with Matt. And I'm looking over some of the ideas for sites for the next set of shows all the while biting my nails waiting for an official yes or no on the renewal." The last episode of _Traveling In Style _had just aired and sometime within the next two weeks they would give her an official decision. As soon as she had word from the powers that be she was able start production again, which could be as early as the first week in September.

"Don't stress about the show." Kim said as her friend nodded at her. She stopped for a moment and glanced down at her watch. "It's time for me to be off to work. I have too much to do and I absolutely cannot be late."

Carri watched as Kim stood and placed her coffee cup in the sink. Giving her friend a quick goodbye she glanced over at her briefly as she grabbed her things and flew out the door in order to get ready for her important afternoon.

* * *

Callisto sat on the throne of the main room in the castle, not caring at the moment that it was technically Rhianna's throne and that the daughter of Lord Zedd and Rita would be more than a little unhappy to find her in it. Of course Callisto never really cared if she was happy or not, only if she was on her side.

The goddess sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. This ultimate plan of hers was taking much longer than she'd ever anticipated. Things were stalling and she wasn't happy. She had information she needed to obtain involving the whereabouts of pieces of a crystal, a crystal that once combined could be absorbed by someone giving them more power. Of course the power was only a side effect of the crystal. Once an evil being was able to absorb the crystal and bond with it, eventually learning how to harness its power, they would be ready for the ultimate evil power up. There was a delightfully evil gem, one well hidden from those who sought out its power. One that those who harnessed the power of the crystal could find. The gem would be enough to combine with one's DNA and the crystal to make the most powerful, most evil being imaginable. One that could easily take out teams of rangers and planets without blinking.

The most depressing part about this whole plan was that Callisto was going to give these powers to Rhianna. Not that she minded, there were unfavorable consequences should she try and take the powers. The crystal, the first step in the whole process, was not meant for use by a goddess. In order to bond with her it would strip her of her immortality and powers, two things she had become quite fond of over the years. Not to mention that the last evil being that had attempted to use this power imploded while fighting against an ancient team of rangers.

His minions had grabbed the gem and put it back in its place, but they couldn't get a hold of the pieces of crystal which shattered upon his demise. The rangers got a hold of them and hid them throughout the galaxy, never to be seen or spoke of again. This is where her troubles came in. She was frustrated as the information of the hidden locations of the crystal shards were nearly impossible to obtain. Cratus had been on a mission to find them, to find anyone who knew about them, but so far he had nothing to report that would be of any use to her. She was never known for her patience and now her frustration was reaching dangerous levels as day after day went by with nothing new coming in.

Meanwhile the rangers had been allowed to frolic down on Earth as if nothing of any danger was going on in the universe around them. It sickened her and she was more than a little ready to give them something to think about. To remind them that regardless of the fact that they had nothing overwhelming to throw at them yet, they were still there and still a force to be reckoned with.

As she thought about the rangers, Rhianna entered the room and shot a look in Callisto's direction. She didn't know what the goddess was doing there in her chair but she was bound to find out. "What's going on?"

"I was just thinking." Callisto replied as she tapped her fingers against the arm of the chair

"Anything I need to be concerned with?" Rhianna asked. She was never sure when Callisto's thinking was a good thing and when it wasn't.

"Actually yes." Callisto replied. Regardless of how pointless it was, it was time to remind the rangers that they were there. "We need a monster. A good monster. We can send it to the surface with Goldar and the Cirranadrones."

"I can take care of that." Rhianna assured her. Although she wasn't sure what she was going to send down. Callisto had seemingly been disappointed with all of her latest creations, starting with the SpongeBob monster that she reamed her about and ending with the wolf monster she had sent down a few days prior.

"And I'm not talking about your usual creations." Callisto quickly pointed out. She couldn't stand to see another lame monster have its go at being ridiculed by the rangers before being smashed to pieces. "I want you to send something down that will really confuse the rangers, do some damage. I want them to remember that we are still a force to be afraid of."

"Alright." Rhianna said slowly as she tried to come up with something that would satisfy the goddess. The more she thought about it the more she thought about something she'd seen on Earth television that might be useful. Not a cartoon character, she had been well warned about the consequences of picking those. But something else, something that struck her as an object that would be evil enough and confusing enough to take on those rangers. "Give me ten minutes on the surface. Then I'll be ready." Rhianna said and with a wave of her staff she was gone

* * *

Kim sat in her office, her papers strewn all over her desk much like they had been for the last several weeks. She was finalizing everything she needed for her presentation to Ashley. Nervously she was making last minute changes to make sure every detail was as perfect as she could get it.

She wasn't sure what was making her so nervous about giving this presentation. It wasn't that she was trying to impress one of the world's fastest up and coming designers. Their ranger connection made talking to Ashley easy despite her status in the fashion industry. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that this was her first chance to prove to the world that she actually deserved this job. That Ashley's decision to hire her wasn't meaningless. Sure she had done some good work for Ashley since she'd been there, but this campaign was huge.

She hoped that her presentation was better than Shawn's, that her ideas were better. He was two years younger than her but he had more experience and she hoped in the long run that it didn't matter. She hoped that between her own knowledge of clothes, her experience in college and her internship she would have enough to give her the ability to nail this presentation and to become Ashley's number one marketing employee.

There was really no reason for her to worry. For the last few weeks she had busted her ass to get this done and she was more than a little proud of what she came up with. Regardless of whether or not Ashley chose her she'd have to be a little impressed. Sighing Kim stopped and stretched, trying to get her mind off of her presentation for a moment so that she could clear her head and be completely ready for the upcoming meeting.

As she pushed the thoughts of her job out of her head, other things started floating in. The first of which was her plans for that evening. She was going to finish packing her things and Tommy would be by later to help her gather all her boxes so that she could move in with him. He had surprised her by asking her to move in three weeks ago and she had surprised herself by saying yes. Carri was pleased for her despite the fact that she was sad to see her roommate go. And there was a little bit of Kim that was sad at the thought of moving out. But moving in with Tommy, well it just felt right. Especially considering the fact that she was there more than she was at Carri's anyway. She had promised Tommy she would move out as soon as she did her presentation. She wanted all of her focus to be on that and not packing.

Unfortunately although her focus had been mostly on her presentation, there had been other things on her mind as well. Kim was no longer human. Or at least not fully anyway. Her DNA had been tampered with and her cells completely converted to Muirantian cells. She had yet to see any of the major changes in her abilities, any of her serious Muirantian powers. She knew that it was only a matter of time before they surfaced and she was scared and hoped that it wouldn't take long for her to be able to figure out how to control them. She knew it would take a while to figure out how to master them, even how to use them properly, but controlling them was going to be important.

Kim glanced back down at the work in front of her. Before she had a chance to try and pull her thoughts back to her task ahead, her communicator went off. Quickly she stood up and shut the door to her tiny office before answering her page. "Go ahead."

"You need to get down to the park now." Billy said without offering any further explanation

"On my way." Kim replied. With a sigh she stood and got ready to morph. Bad guys always had the worst timing as she needed to stay here with her presentation. Knowing there was nothing she could do about it, Kim prepared to morph and teleport down to the scene.

* * *

Kim was the final of the five rangers to teleport to the park, although she wasn't far behind the others. When she arrived she found herself face to face with Goldar, Cirranadrones, and a monster that appeared to be a plastic children's monster mold toy.

"Anybody know what this guy's deal is?" Kim asked as she stood in battle stance ready to go

"Nope. But I give him about five minutes before it really doesn't matter." Carri replied as she called for her daggers and watched as Jason called for his axe beside her

"Let's go show him how it's done." Jason said as he and Carri both went to charge at the monster. While they ran to attack Tommy drew his weapon and went after Goldar, leaving Kim and Rocky to deal with the Cirranadrones.

"Not so fast." Moldinator replied holding a big plastic hand up to stop them. The rangers weren't intimidated by him and they jumped to attack, just as the monster opened up with a bright light and produced a clone of itself. The clone looked like a big, slimy jelly like monster and they had no idea what it could do.

It didn't speak, only grunted as it stepped in front of Moldinator to absorb the two rangers attacks. Carri and Jason hit the slime monster head on with their weapons and were surprised to find that it had the ability to electrically shock them before throwing them back onto the battlefield.

Temporarily stunned and disoriented, the yellow and black rangers paused before pulling themselves back to their feet. "This isn't good." Carri pointed out the obvious

"That's an understatement." Jason replied as Moldinator glowed once more and produced a second slimy copy

Goldar glanced over from his fight with Tommy, quite proud of Rhianna's creation. Moldinator was a product of a children's monster mold making toy. The monster itself wasn't very powerful. But it could create those slimy copies of itself, and Rhianna had given the copies the ability to have a quite electrifying power as the yellow and green rangers were quickly finding out firsthand. Goldar turned back to his moral enemy, who had yet to see the commotion with the monster, and continued the fight.

Rocky and Kim were surrounded by Cirranadrones and trying their hardest to take them out one by one. Both had already called on their weapons which was making the fight slightly easier. Kim found herself in the center of at least a dozen of Callisto's creatures. Quickly she decided against a fair fight and levitated herself high above them. Levitation was something that had been much simpler and taken a lot less effort since her cells transformed.

Not wasting any time, Kim picked off Cirranadrones quickly as they found it nearly impossible to get to her. As she hovered high above them she glanced around the battlefield. Rocky and Tommy were for the most part handling their battles. What concerned her was seeing Jason and Carri facing off against four slime like monsters who were defending Moldinator and looked to be shocking them with every touch. She knew she needed to try and help them so she quickly used her arrows to stop the rest of the Cirranadrones before leaping forward and landing on the ground.

As soon as her feet hit the ground she made her way over toward her friends, who by now were being faced with five of the slime creatures. Quickly she put arrows into each of them, watching as the slime absorbed the arrow as though it was nothing. "That didn't do much good." she observed as he two friends turned to see who shot the arrows off

"This is what we've been dealing with. You can't touch them and weapons aren't doing much good." Jason said, beyond irritated with the monsters they were facing. Jason had used his axe to fire blasts which had gotten absorbed and Carri had thrown a dagger at it, only to have to use her abilities to retrieve it without touching the slime monster when the dagger got stuck in its frame.

Suddenly Moldinator created yet another slime monster. "Shit." Carri cursed. "How many of these damn things do you think he can come up with?"

"What the hell?" Rocky asked coming up on the plethora of slime monsters that the other was facing

"That's about where we are." Jason said as one of the slime monsters launched at the group. They all scattered and barely missed its advances, regrouping seconds later only to find that they'd gained another slime monster as well as another ranger.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked as he joined the rest of his team after managing to send Goldar away

"Electric slime monsters." Kim said as the slime monsters started to surround them. She suddenly feared that this was exactly what they wanted. Get all the rangers together then close in on them. They couldn't fight them and if the slime monsters attacked they could easily find themselves with more of an electric shock than they could handle. Kim levitated once more as she saw Moldinator spit out yet another slime creation. She cast a glance down at Tommy and the others who were in the center of a circle of fast moving slime monsters. Before she had a chance to formulate any kind of plan, they were all teleported.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked as with a quick glance he realized Billy had teleported them back to the Command Chamber in the middle of the battle

"Those electric slime creatures can't be stopped by our weapons. There was a good chance they would've killed you had they closed in on you like that." Billy said. He had been watching the battle and hadn't been in the least happy about what he had seen. Things were not going well for his friends and from all the scans he was doing on the slime creatures the dynamic wasn't going to change. "Before it got to that I wanted to bring you guys here to regroup."

"So if we can't defeat the slime things, how do we get rid of them? I seriously doubt downtown Angel Grove wants a hoard of shocking slime molds taking over." Carri said. She didn't like hearing that they couldn't stop the slime creatures. She had experienced first hand what they were capable of and knew they had to be destroyed.

"The slime molds are all creations of Moldinator. Destroy him and the molds will follow." Billy explained. "The problem is the slime molds are protecting Moldinator."

Kim let out a long exasperated sigh. "That brings us back to the original problem. How do we take care of the slime molds?"

"They're electric. Can't we use that to our advantage somehow?" Jason questioned. While in battle he thought that there had to be a way to shock those stupid things back and get around them.

"That thought occurred to me as well." Billy replied. "If you can destroy their electric charge, that should essentially leave them as non functioning gooey slime balls. I'm not sure as the best course of action to achieve that. Perhaps dousing them with water or something along those lines would be enough to do the trick."

"So should we grab a couple of buckets and fill them up?" Rocky asked. He wasn't thrilled with the slime monsters and was ready to make the battle end quickly.

Kim was half listening as she glanced back to the viewing screen and saw that Moldinator was spitting out more of his slime replicas. "We're going to need a whole lot more than a few buckets."

Tommy stood beside her and crossed his arms over his chest. She was right, there were too many of them for them to be able to use a buckets of water to short them out. They needed to douse them. "Lightspeed rescue." he said suddenly as the idea came to him

"What can they do?" Jason questioned. He knew of the team, but as far as he was aware they had lost pretty much everything but their powers at the end of their last major battle.

"They've been rebuilding the last few years. Trying to continue to protect Mariner Bay." Tommy explained. He made it his business over the years to be well versed in the activities of ranger teams both past and present. He knew for a fact that Lightspeed had recreated a base and some of their zords in case they were ever needed. "They have a zord that would be perfect for this. It's for putting fires out, but it could easily cover all of those slime creatures with water."

Kim nodded as that sounded like as good a plan as any. "Great. Let's get a hold of Lightspeed. If they can stop the monsters, we'll use the Power Cannon and put Moldinator down before he can do any more damage."

"I'll contact Captain Mitchell." Tommy said as he quickly walked off

The rangers glanced over at the screen after Tommy left. Moldinator was creating slime monsters but at the moment they were all in a holding pattern around him, waiting for the rangers to come back down and attack. They could only hope that the slime monsters would stay away from the civilian population long enough for them to put their plan in motion.

* * *

It didn't take long for Captain Mitchell to agree to help and send along Chad and the rebuilt Hydro Rescue Two. The moment he got there the rangers ran to rejoin the battle, only to find more than a dozen slime creatures surrounding Moldinator.

Tommy raised his communicator to his mouth. "Just keep them saturated. We'll push our way through to Moldinator."

"Not a problem." Chad replied through his zord's communications system. He was glad to come to Angel Grove and help out, it had been a while since he'd seen any ranger action.

Several of the slime monsters started to walk toward the rangers as the zord behind them sounded as though it was coming to life. Before the creatures could get too far, they found themselves doused with a cold wet blast. It only took a few seconds before sparks flew and the creatures stopped moving.

"This is our cue." Kim said as more creatures in front of them ceased to operate. The pink ranger wasted no time leading the charge past the giant balls of slime and toward the center where Moldinator was waiting for them.

"What have you done to them?" he roared as his major line of defense was diminished

"The same thing we're about to do to you." Jason replied as the five rangers stood in formation and called for the Power Cannon

A few seconds later the weapon was in their hands and they wasted no time firing on the creature in front of them. He was easily destroyed, and as he fell his slime monsters exploded as well.

"Just great." Carri muttered as pieces of slime flew everywhere, one of which her in the arm

"At least they're gone." Rocky replied as he watched the last of the slime pieces settle to the ground

The rangers were getting ready to return to their daily lives when much like every other monster they had faced, Moldinator grew. "Let's get him before he can make some giant sized friends." Kim said as Tommy quickly called for the zords

They wasted no time bringing them to formation, standing strong as the Ninja Megazord. Unfortunately Moldinator was ready for them as he had already created a giant sized slime creature.

"This can't be good." Rocky pointed out the obvious as the slime creature lunged at the zord. They tried to maneuver around it, but the slime creature got a hand on them and it was enough to shock the zord and overload it, temporarily shutting most of its systems down.

"I hope you have some good news for us." Tommy spoke quickly through the communications systems

"Moldinator can't create the slime creatures nearly as fast now that he's giant sized so you'll only have the one to deal with for the moment." Billy said relaying the good news first. "It will only take a second to restore your power, however he can knock it right back out."

"So we need to stop him to get the zord running and take out Moldinator quickly." Kim summed up their situation as Billy agreed with her. She quickly switched the communications over to speak with Chad as the slime monster pushed the zord back, shocking it again and sending it to the ground. The rangers held on as they fell, and the moment they hit the ground Kim spoke. "See if you can stop him long enough for us to act."

"I'll try." Chad replied as he turned the water on the giant slime creature. It hit his leg and shocked his leg, but the creature was too big for him to do any real damage. It turned its attention from the Megazord to the Rescue Zord, using it's power to shock it as well.

"Now what?" Jason asked. This was not going well in the slightest and if they didn't act soon they would be out a set of zords.

Carri thought for a moment. "I have an idea." she said as she realized how she could stop the single slime monster

"What are you going to do?" Rocky asked. He was never sure if her having a battle plan was a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes she would do things that would make him hold his breath and pray.

She smiled at him from under her helmet. "Well you know. Do unto others." She said and without hesitation she jumped out of the Megazord and hit the ground, powering down as she did so. "Planetary rangers power up!" she yelled morphing into her other form

"What is she doing?" Tommy questioned not liking being left out of the loop

"I think I know." Kim replied as she smiled, opening communications back up with Billy. "Be ready to reboot the megazord." If she was right Carri was about to take out the slime monster in the same fashion he just disabled their megazord. She didn't want to waste any time getting back to action and taking out Moldinator before he could create another giant slime monster.

A few seconds later a bolt of lighting came crashing through the sky, making direct contact with the slime monster. It was enough to overload and disable the creature, giving Billy a chance to get their zord back up and running. As soon as the creature stopped moving, the megazord roared back to life and the rangers wasted no time bringing it to its feet. They quickly called for their saber and slashed Moldinator, destroying him for good.

* * *

Moments after saying goodbye to Chad and thanking him for all his help, Jason found himself staring into his refrigerator. After a few seconds he reached in and grabbed a beer. Between everything that was floating around in his head and the hell of a battle they just had, he felt as though he needed it.

Popping the cap off, he took the beer and headed out to his small porch, sitting in a chair and enjoying an August afternoon while drinking. He tried hard to clear his mind of everything but it was nearly impossible. The battle was easy to forget. His book was making money so there was nothing to worry about there. What disturbed him was more of a who than anything.

It had been a while since he and Michelle had agreed to end their relationship. In all honesty it didn't bother him that much. He liked her but it wasn't meant to be, and it was probably better off that way. He had spent the time since their breakup going on a few dates here and there, but nothing turned out to be meaningful. Of course nothing was going to be meaningful until he could get her out of his mind.

Her. Emily. The woman that broke his heart all those years ago. The woman that as of late was invading his thoughts, his dreams, and wouldn't let him be. So many things about his encounter with her in the alternate dimension haunted him. The way she looked in her ranger uniform, the way it clung to her body and accentuated her shape. The fact that she was even involved at all, that she and her Jason had made it yet he and his Emily had not.

He started thinking of her again, about their brief meeting in the command center. The way her hair draped over her shoulders, the way her blue eyes looked at him. He hadn't been able to forget what it felt like for her to touch him, to kiss his cheek. The memory of her lips on his skin again drove him crazy.

But this was a different Emily, one that hadn't slept with another man. Still it made him think of his own Emily and his time spent with her. How much he loved her in his youth, how much he trusted her and confided in her. They were perfect once and he found himself truly missing her after all these years, longing to hold her in his arms again.

Of course that was only a part of the story. She did still cheat on him. Part of him wanted her to burn in hell for that. For crushing his heart, ripping it out and tossing it aside as though it was worthless, as though he was worthless. But then again, it was still Emily. It had been a long time since she'd hurt him and he was spending most of his days thinking about her positively.

He had to wonder if he could forgive her. If he could get past the fact that he caught her in bed with another man. It certainly wasn't something that would be easy to do. But that didn't make it impossible. Jason shook his head as he continued to work on his beer. Once the last drop was gone he had made up his mind. Regardless of what happened, he had to see her, he had to see his Emily.

Grabbing the empty bottle he headed inside. He sat the bottle down and took a deep breath before teleporting himself to the Command Chamber. Looking around he was pleased to find that the hustle and bustle of the place had calmed down and everyone had left. He didn't want anyone to know what he was doing up there, especially the girls as they'd probably kill him.

He slipped over to one of the consoles feeling as though he was about to do something incredibly illegal. He quickly entered the system and used the Command Chamber's files to look her up. Over the years they had kept tabs on all the rangers and those who knew about them or were close to them. Of course it wasn't for spying purposes, it was to make sure they knew where everyone was in case they needed to get a hold of someone quickly. Jason however was going to use it to spy on someone.

He typed in Emily's name and her file quickly popped up. There was a more recent photo attached to it and Jason took a minute to stare at it before reading the file. She looked as beautiful as he remembered and it brought a smile to his face. He glanced down to see what she'd been up to since he last saw her. She had gotten her associates at Angel Grove College. That didn't surprise him, she was well on her way to it when they broke up. She had gone on to UCLA and gotten a bachelors of science in nursing and had minored in biomedical research. Currently she was working at a medical research facility that was close to his home.

The file listed some of her personal life details. He couldn't tell if she was dating or not, but she had never been married or had any kids. She appeared to be for the most part the same woman he'd fallen in love with all those years ago. He didn't know what that meant but suddenly something became very clear to him. He had to see her.

Quickly he looked up the facility she worked for. Researchers usually left around six. Which meant if he showed up around six he had a chance of seeing her. He had no idea what he was going to do when he saw her but it didn't matter. What mattered was that he would hop on his bike and go out there that evening, hoping for a glimpse of an old flame.

* * *

Kim returned to work once the battle ended, ignoring everything and continuing to go through her presentation to perfect it. It was more than a little frustrating to have had to deal with such a huge battle when she had an important presentation to do that afternoon. She felt behind on where she wanted to be and she was now scrambling to catch up.

She leaned back for a moment and took a deep breath, glancing briefly at the computer screen. She noticed the new emails, one of which was from Ashley. Quickly she opened it up, only to be horrified by its contents. The afternoon meeting had gotten moved up due to something important that had come up for Ashley that afternoon. They were now meeting in five minutes by Kim's watch.

Scrambling Kim tried to throw everything together quickly. She was going to be late, and that was not a good start to her presentation. After grabbing everything she needed and throwing it in her arms, she glanced around her office one last time. Satisfied that she hadn't forgotten anything, she flew out and ran toward the conference room.

When she arrived the meeting had already started and Shawn was just getting into his presentation. She flashed Ashley and apologetic smile before collapsing in her seat, her work getting plopped on the desk in front of her. The stress of the morning had caught up to her and she let out a long sigh before Shawn started speaking again.

Kim zoned out for the first few minutes. She was going over everything in her head. What she wanted to say, how she wanted to say it, what she wanted to show them. It would be very important that she got everything precisely right, especially after the entrance she just had. Finally feeling somewhat focused, she allowed herself to listen to Shawn's presentation so she could see what she was up against.

As he droned on about what his plans were for the upcoming clothing line, Kim felt the strangest sense of familiarity. She turned her head slightly and looked at him, concentrating on what he was showing them and what he was saying. Suddenly everything made sense. There was a reason why what he was saying sounded so familiar. His presentation appeared to be based off of her presentation. The ideas and concepts she had created were flowing out of his mouth as if they were his own.

At first Kim found herself getting very angry, wishing that she could unleash all the power she had at her disposal on the worthless man standing in front of her. The nerve of this man to break into her office and steal from the very project that was supposed to increase her status, help her to start to make a name for herself. It seemed as though he had managed not to get his sticky little fingers on some of her best ideas and project tweaks but it didn't make any difference.

With a sigh she thought about all the times she'd teleported off to save the world and left pieces of her project lying around in the open. That started to make her angrier, the thought that while she was out saving the world, making it so Shawn could continue on with his existence here in Angel Grove, he was in her office stealing her ideas.

His presentation came to an end and Ashley and Sandy took a few notes as he sat down. Kim's manager looked at her and smiled. "Alright Kim, it's your turn."

As Kim sat there she crossed her arms over her chest, uncertain of whether or not she was going to kill someone or burst into tears. Either way she had to get out of that room quickly. "I don't have anything." she mumbled

"Well." Sandy said simply, quite satisfied that she had been right all along. The most important presentation of Kim's career so far and she had nothing. She definitely should not have been the candidate they should've hired for that position.

"Then I suppose this meeting is over." Ashley replied more than a little surprised by Kim's statement. She knew that Kim understood the importance of this. What this could do for herself and for the company should she do well here. Ashley had high hopes for Kim after seeing some of her previous work and was now more than a little disappointed in her fellow ranger.

As the words left Ashley's lips Kim stood and quickly crammed all her things into her arms. She could sense the glee from Sandy and the disappointment from Ashley and it was more than she could handle. She fled the room quickly, trying hard not to let the others see as a few stray tears fell down her face.

Ashley watched as she left. Something wasn't right here and she was determined to figure out what it was.

* * *

Carri walked into Bulkmeier's that afternoon and was surprised to be greeted by one of its owners who was standing around talking to the hostess. "Carri, hey, good to see you." Skull said smiling at an old high school acquaintance. He hadn't seen her or some of her friends in years and it was nice that since they've all been back in town they made Bulkmeier's their regular eatery.

"Hey." she replied smiling back at him. "I'm having lunch with Matt Drake. Have you seen him?"

"He's over there." Skull replied pointing to an outside table. It was weird seeing Matt at the restaurant. Skull and Carri's group of friends had been relatively social with each other through high school but Matt's group of friends were on the opposite end of the spectrum. He and Bulk were a part of a group that were most known for their tendency to bully others and weren't very popular among most of their peers. Matt on the other hand was part of an elite group of jocks, ones that girls swooned over and guys either loved them or hated them. Skull was part of the latter. So were, in fact, most of Carri's friends as he was known for both his womanizing tendencies and his over inflated ego. Which is why he was surprised that she was friends with him. But there was no set of rules on who someone would and wouldn't become friends with.

"Thanks." she said as she strolled past Skull and toward the back door. She slipped outside and made her way over to the table, ending by sliding into a seat across from her friend. "Hey." she greeted

"Hello." he replied without taking his nose out of the menu. "What's good here?"

Carri shrugged. "I haven't had anything I didn't like." she said as she flagged down a waitress and ordered something to drink. "You know who owns this restaurant?" she questioned. He told her he'd never been there before, only briefly heard of it so she thought it would be fun for him to try it out.

"Bulk and Skull?" It was a guess, but an educated guess. The place was Bulkmeier's and he'd seen Skull wondering the floor earlier. He glanced up as she nodded at him. He'd have to say he was surprised. They never struck him as the type who'd amount to anything. Of course he'd have to admit, he'd been told he'd never amount to anything and here he was a professional soccer player.

"Bulk knows what he's doing when it comes to food." she commented as she briefly glanced over the menu. A few seconds later the waitress returned with her drink and set it down in front of her. She quickly took both of their orders, gathered up their menus and took off.

"It's cool we could finally have lunch today." Matt commented. Since they'd ran into each other almost a month ago he'd tried to give her a call so they could hang out. They'd talked on the phone but between both their schedules they never could find time to visit.

"Yeah I'm glad. We can finally catch up." Carri agreed. They hadn't talked about much with their phone conversations but now she'd have a chance to see what an old friend had been doing. "So what have you been up to? Besides the Galaxy of course."

"I lead a boring life." he mused smiling at her. "The last six years have been soccer, girls and parties."

Carri raised an eyebrow. Some people never changed. "Funny that's how you lived your first twenty-two years."

"Yes but now I'm doing it all completely legally." he said with a laugh. He'd had more than one drunken party night before he turned twenty-one, but it wasn't as much fun until he was old enough to not have to worry about getting caught.

"Seeing anyone in particular?" she asked. The last time she spoke with him he was still with his college girlfriend Crystal.

"Eh." Matt replied with a shrug. He had seen quite a few girls on and off but none of them were serious. "I've only had one long term relationship since Crystal and I broke up five years ago. It's hard to keep a girlfriend when you're always on the road."

"It's hard not to cheat?" she questioned. She knew him better than almost anyone, and she knew he was a lot like her brother. He could be faithful, he wanted to be faithful, but throw a beautiful woman in his face and he'd be easily swayed.

"Something like that." he said with a small enough smile to let her know she was right. "What about you? Seeing anyone?"

"Rocky." she replied quickly

"Damn. That's what? Eleven years?" Matt questioned genuinely surprised. He knew they were good together but he was surprised they'd gone that long without a serious commitment.

"Not really. We split for a while. I traveled the world for a few years. We got together when I got back." she replied hoping he wouldn't ask for too many details. She didn't know how much she would be able to make up and then remember what she said.

"I didn't know you traveled. How was it?" he asked

"It was fun. I got to see some exotic places." she stared which wasn't a lie. She had been to some quite exotic planets over the years. "I met interesting natives." Again, not a lie as she was fascinated by some of the people she met on other worlds. "But after four years of traveling I was worn out and more than ready to come back." she finished. Which was the truth as well.

"I've seen a lot of places over the years but I think it would be awesome to take time off just to travel wherever." Matt said. It was cool that she'd done that, and the more he thought about it the more he thought it would be fun to do himself. He smiled wickedly at her for a moment. "Did you screw any of the natives?"

"Matt!" Carri exclaimed swatting him on the shoulder. Of course she did have relations with a native of KO-35 but she certainly didn't want to get into that with him. "I may have had one or two dates with guys while I was away."

"You screwed the natives." he said simply before laughing at her. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You know I would have done it."

"That's because you have no shame. If she looks good, you'll do her." Carri was quick to point out

"And?" Matt asked grinning at her. Before she could come up with a reply the waitress came back and sat their food down in front of her

She rolled her eyes once more for good measure as the conversation temporarily lulled while the duo started on their lunch.

* * *

Ashley sat in her office waiting for Kim to join her. She had called her in almost immediately after returning that afternoon. She didn't understand what had happened in that meeting, but she was absolutely going to find out. It wasn't long before the door opened and Kim's head popped in.

"You wanted to see me?" Kim asked. She knew what it was all about and she shouldn't have been surprised that Ashley called for her.

"Yeah. Come have a seat." Ashley said gesturing to the chair in front of her. Kim walked over and sat down and the former yellow ranger flashed her a smile. "Something happened in that meeting room and I'd like to know what it was. I know you've been prepping for this for a long time and I can't believe you'd have nothing to share."

Kim let out a long sigh. She was going to let Ashley in on everything. She had to, her job was at stake. "Shawn's presentation? It was my ideas. Well some of them. He apparently didn't steal some of the really good ones. But most of it was what I came up with reworded." Kim picked up a folder that she'd brought in with her and placed it on the desk in front of Ashley. "This is pretty much my presentation."

Ashley took a few minutes to look it over. A good percentage of it was a recycled version of the things that Shawn had presented to her in the conference room earlier. But a lot of it wasn't, a lot of it was more complex and more innovative than what he gave her and quite frankly it made the campaign much better. She had to say that she was impressed with what Kim came up with. However that left her with a problem. One of her employees had stooped as low as to steal ideas from another one and that didn't sit well with her.

"Although I do believe you, I still have to look into this officially." Ashley said after several moments of silence. "I will arrange a meeting later between the three of us and we will discuss it."

"Thank you." Kim replied letting out a sigh of relief. Maybe this day would end up getting better.

Ashley flashed her a smile. "So," she started closing the folder and putting it aside for the moment, "what else is going on? How's Tommy?"

"Tommy's good. We're good." she said with a dreamy look on her face that suggested they were more than just good. "I'm moving out tonight. Going to live with him."

"So I've heard." Ashley said with an amused look on her face. Between being rangers together and students together she and Carri were still friends, despite the fact that she rarely got the chance to see her. She spoke to her on the phone often and it had come up that Kim and Tommy were coming along quite nicely, and that she was going to lose her roommate to Tommy. Both girls were happy for Kim as they enjoyed watching her romance with Tommy rediscover itself more passionately than it ever had been before. Carri chalked a lot of it up to the fact that right after they got back together they were taken to the alternate universe. With Kim almost dying, the alternate Kim and Tommy being married, and them seeing that little boy running around that looked exactly like Tommy they came home and their feelings for each other intensified.

Kim laughed. It was amazing how fast news flew around in the ranger community. Especially among friends. "Other than that nothing much else is happening. We're still trying to figure out what Callisto and Rhianna are going to do next. You know how the waiting game is." she paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm Muirantian now. My cells have completely changed over."

Ashley nodded. It must be hard for Kim to be not completely human anymore. Then again sometimes that wasn't such a bad thing. Her husband wasn't all human, and neither were her two children. And as far as they were concerned nothing was wrong with them. Of course they didn't have the abilities Kim was going to have, but she'd learn to adjust. She was a strong ranger.

"What about you?" Kim questioned not feeling in the mood for getting into details about Muirantian cells or powers. "How have things been going lately?"

"Everything's great." she replied with a smile. "The kids are doing just fine. Andros is still doing a lot of interplanetary work." Andros worked hard to build relations with Earth and the other planets as he was well respected as the Astro red. He always hoped that one day Earth would be ready to accept that there were other planets, other life forms out there that they could have contact with and be friendly with. His goal was to make sure when Earth was ready the other planets wouldn't shun them. It was important to him since he was from KO-35 and his children were half Kaoan. It was something good for him to be doing. It wasn't close to a full time job and he stayed home most of the time with the kids, doing his work out of the highly technologically advanced room he'd set up for himself. On the rare occasion he'd have to travel he wasn't gone long.

"That's good. I think everything he's doing will pay off." Kim said. It had to. One day the citizens of Earth would no longer be able to plug their ears and pretend they were the only ones out there that mattered. One day they'd be willing to invite other cultures in, and the groundwork Andros was laying was going to make that possible.

"I hope so." Ashley said absentmindedly. She thought for a moment as she glanced over at Kim's folder. She did want to sit here and talk to her friend. But she also had a work dilemma to take care of and it was better that she handled it now so she could get the situation settled. "I'm going to look into this." Ashley said putting a hand on the folder. "I want to get this resolved. But we'll chat later?"

"Absolutely." Kim replied with a smile. She stood from her seat and turned toward the door. "Thank you." she called out as she exited and headed back toward her office

* * *

That afternoon, Rocky pulled into the parking lot of his Stone Canyon school. He was arriving later than he'd wanted to as he'd gotten held up back home. He still had to stop in here for a bit before heading to his school in Los Angeles. Hopefully he could get through his two schools quickly as Carri was meeting him at the one in LA at six-thirty and they were going to a Dodgers game.

He walked to the front door of the school, hesitating before going in. He always hated having to come here to do work as Jessica was here. And every time he came in she hit on him. It seemed as though she made as many advances toward him in her two months here as she did in her few weeks in Angel Grove.

Slowly he opened the door and headed in. He saw the man he'd put in charge of this school in his absence standing over on one of the mats. He was going to go talk to him but he was stopped when he got with in earshot of the receptionist desk.

"Hey Rocky!" Jessica called out

He turned to look at her and she was smiling sweetly at him while waving. "Hey." he said simply to acknowledge her. "How long do you have to keep those on?" he questioned pointing toward the bandages on her nose. He knew she'd recently gone in for her final plastic surgery to correct the damage Carri had done all those months ago.

"Soon." she replied. "Then all that damage that bitch girlfriend of yours did will be behind me."

"Jessica." Rocky said in a warning tone. He couldn't make her play nice but as her boss he could keep her from referring to his girlfriend as a bitch in his office.

"I'm sorry. I'm just still a little upset, that's all." she replied making a face that was intended to gain sympathy. "I mean after all she did brutally attack me. I'm just surprised that they threw my lawsuit out of court."

Rocky opened his mouth to say something but used his better judgement to keep it closed. "I've got some business to attend to I'll talk to you later." he finally said going in the direction he intended to go in the first place. Besides he had a date that night and he was damned if he'd let Jessica make him late.

"Wait!" she called out, getting him to stop. She wanted until he turned and looked at her then she gestured for him to come over there. He took a step closer and she continued to gesture until he was leaning on the counter. "I have something I have to tell you."

"What?" Rocky asked not really wanting to be bothered by her games at the moment

She stood up and leaned in close to him. Rocky resisted the urge to pull away from her as she spoke. "I'm just found out I'm pregnant." she whispered quickly before returning to her seat

It had been six months since they'd slept together but that didn't keep the images of the alternate universe and a baby between that Rocky and Jessica floating through his head. Suddenly his legs felt weak and he wasn't sure what feeling was more prevalent in his gut, nausea or panic. He quickly took several deep breaths and tried to calm his emotions. After all, it was impossible that it was his. Although the thought was enough to give him quite a scare. "Why are you telling me this?"

Jessica shrugged. "You know I do work for you. It may effect my work. I thought you should know."

"Oh. Well. Thank you for telling me." Rocky replied as professionally as he could. "Well I suppose congratulations are in order for you and the father." He was trying to figure out who the child's father was. It would make him feel a little better.

Jessica shrugged. "Thanks I guess. But I'm really not sure who the daddy is." There were two guys she'd slept with at about the right time and either of them could be the father. Of course she was thinking about how much fun it would be to convince Rocky that he was drunk and they'd slept together while she worked in Angel Grove. It would break him and his girlfriend apart easily and he'd feel forced to stay with her. Of course all he'd have to do would be to order a paternity test to prove her wrong. But it would be fun just the same.

Rocky nodded. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." With that he walked away. Carri was going to have a fit when she heard that Jessica was pregnant. But at least he could safely say beyond a shadow of a doubt that the child was not his.

* * *

Miles away from the Angel Grove area two figures sat in a small command center of their own doing some work. One of the figures paused in his work to glance at his watch. "Hopefully we'll have time to finish this before I have to leave." Tommy said

"Right. So you can pick up Kim." Hayley replied looking up from her work with a smile on her face. Despite the fact that they were doing some serious work there, Tommy had mentioned well more than once that he was going to help Kim gather her things and move into his apartment. Hayley couldn't be happier for the two of them.

"Right." Tommy agreed as though it were the most absurd thing Hayley had ever said. He sighed and turned back to his work. He was working on a project, one he hadn't told any of the other rangers about including Kimberly. He was hoping that this project would prove unnecessary but he couldn't be sure.

He had spent a lot of time thinking about what he wanted to do and within the last month he finally decided to act. He had taken all the information Billy had secured from the alternate universe. He had everything he'd ever need to know about the towers. He also had all the information about Kemora he could get his hands on.

Taking all that information he went back to his home in Reefside and asked Hayley for her help. He wanted to use the information to create weapons and strategies, ones that would in theory be able to handle the towers successfully should they appear on Earth or to handle Kemora should they see her here again. It was a hard task and it had become a process of trial and error.

Eventually they spread out their efforts to include finding ways and weapons to fight against Callisto and Rhianna. After all, they were the real threats at the moment. There was no guarantee that Kemora would come back to their Earth again or that they'd ever see the towers. But as far as he was concerned it was better to be safe than sorry. Which is why he commissioned Hayley to help him. She was the only other person on the planet who knew how to create rangers and weapons and battle ideas at the same level Billy could. There were others who had helped rangers who could do that sort of thing, but both Hayley and Billy were above and beyond. And since he didn't want to worry Billy with it, he'd only asked Hayley for help.

"I have some ideas. I think I may work on them this weekend." Hayley said. She was working hard to try and keep her home world from seeing any of the terror that Tommy had described from the place he'd visited or from the monsters that currently loomed high above them.

"That would be good." Tommy said nodding. He would feel bad that Hayley was spending a lot of time working on his projects if it weren't for the fact Hayley loved doing it. Anything she could do in the command chamber tinkering with stuff was fun for her.

"Do you think," Hayley paused and looked over at him, "what are the chances that the towers will appear here?" It was a question that had been floating through her head ever since she'd started helping Tommy. He always seemed so determined that the towers would one day appear. The alternate Carri told him that those towers eventually showed up on every planet that Kemora visited. But could she have been exaggerating? Besides things have changed now after the battle they had on the alternate universe. Hayley let out a sigh. The more work she did with the information she had, the more that the thought of the towers appearing frightened her. She wanted to hear him say that there was a chance they'd never have to worry about it.

"Honestly?" Tommy asked surprised by her question. "I don't know. There were so many similarities between our two worlds yet they had more than enough differences. We could face the destruction the towers bring soon or just as easily never. Or we could see them a hundred years from now." Where Kim would be forced to rally against them and save the planet without him there, he added silently.

"There are huge differences between the two worlds. After all the other rangers didn't face Callisto and Rhianna. Maybe the towers won't appear here. Should we just concentrate on them? And Kemora?" It was more likely to see Kemora again one day as she knew of this planet's existence and she more than hated its Kimberly. It was only a matter of time before she could figure out how to get into another body, although she hoped it was much later rather than sooner. The more Kemora were to show up, the more she'd be afraid of seeing those towers appear.

"I want to be able to prevent those towers from ever appearing on our planet." Tommy replied. He had given it a lot of thought. Hayley was right, he didn't know for sure and there was a chance that the towers wouldn't appear there. But at the same time he didn't think just having this information was enough. He wanted to be prepared to use it. Besides everyone was focused on Callisto and Rhianna, and Kemora they already knew a lot about. They were the only ones focusing on the towers.

Hayley was silent for a moment. Those were the last things she ever wanted to see there. "I agree." she replied before turning back to her work

* * *

The workday was winding down and Kim was getting anxious as she had yet to hear anything from Ashley. Finally her phone rang and Kim leaned over and hit the intercom button. "Hello?"

"Hey Kim. Can you meet me in my office?" Ashley questioned

"Be right there." Kim replied as she leaned in to lift the receiver up and place it back in its cradle. Kim took a deep breath. This had to be it, Ashley had to have come to some sort of conclusion. She stacked all her papers neatly on her desk before standing up and exiting the office. Closing the door behind her, she made her way to go see Ashley.

As she walked into the receptionist's area she was told to go on in. Quickly she headed toward the office and pushed the door back, smiling at Ashley as she noticed Shawn was already there. "Kim, thank you. Have a seat." Ashley said gesturing to the empty chair beside Shawn

Kim stood tall and strode in with confidence, sitting in the chair next to Shawn glancing briefly in his direction before looking over at Ashley. She'd be damned if she'd let him think he got to her. She was Kimberly Heart, Phaedosian warrior, Muirantian, Red Planetary Ranger, and out of all the things in the universe she was not going to let this person get under her skin any more than he already had.

"Thank you both for coming to this meeting on such short notice." Ashley started. She had spent a lot of time trying to figure out how she wanted to handle this situation as she wasn't sure what the right direction to proceed was. She still wasn't sure what the right direction was yet here she sat, going through the motions. "I called you both here to discuss your presentations and campaign ideas."

Shawn beamed at her as he thought about his presentation and Kim's lack there of. They were probably in the room so he could get a promotion and Kim could be fired. Or his assistant. She'd be a hot assistant.

"The ideas that were put in front of me were amazing." Ashley said, careful not to gaze directly at either of her employees

"Thank you." Shawn spoke, assuming Ashley was talking to him as he cut her off

"But," she continued on taking a long pause, "it wasn't the ideas that were presented to me in the conference room, it's what I saw later in my office that impressed me."

"What?" Shawn questioned more than a little upset. "We had deadlines to meet. Only one chance to present the material. How could you let her"

Ashley held up a hand to stop him mid sentence. She was not going to allow him to throw a fit right here in her office. Not yet anyway, not until she'd said all she needed to say. "Kim did come to my office later to present her ideas. And strangely they were the basis of your ideas only more in depth and with more creativity."

"She stole from me?" Shawn questioned knowing full well he was the one who had plagiarized off of his coworker

"I wouldn't say that." Ashley said sweetly. "I did some poking around while you both were out of your offices. I found Kim's initial notes and drawings and I found copies of her initial work in your office." she finished looking directly at Shawn. It made sense why he hadn't copied everything of Kim's. He only had her original notes. She had added and changed things since then.

"I... I don't know how they got there." Shawn said trying to defend himself

"I would think it happened when you stole them from her office, copied them, and took them as your own." Ashley said trying not to lose her temper over his actions. "Which means that Kim will be in charge of this project and I'm going with her ideas, and Shawn, you're fired. You have until the end of the day today to clear your things out."

Shawn stood and in a moment of frustration pushed his chair with force against Ashley's desk before storming out of her office. Kim let out a sigh of relief as the door shut behind him. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." Ashley replied. The truth was she never liked him in the first place. He was Sandy's choice to hire and Ashley always thought he did too much ass kissing and not enough actual working. "So, I believe you have a clothing line campaign to get started on."

"Of course." Kim replied as she stood with a smile and exited the office. Things were definitely starting to look better for her.

* * *

Jason pulled up on his motorcycle toward the front of Emily's office building. He came close enough that he could see her, but made sure to stay out of sight so she wouldn't notice him unless she was looking. He turned the key and silenced his bike as he glared through the visor of his helmet hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

The minutes passed slowly and ticked closer and closer to six. He glanced at his watch and watched the seconds count down until it was six exactly. It was her time to go home. Any minute she'd be walking out the main door and to her car. He was finally going to get to see her.

As he waited to get a glimpse of a woman he once loved a thought occurred to him. What the hell was he doing out there? They broke up. She chose to love another man over him. Here he was searching her out years later. And for what?

Suddenly she walked out of the front door and he knew his answer. Because after all she put him through she was the only woman in his lifetime that he ever truly loved, ever confided in, and here she was walking out of the door looking as beautiful as ever. She was just as he remembered her except that her hair was a shade or two darker now much like the other Emily's had been.

Jason gripped his handlebars and thought briefly about going to say something to her as she stopped to talk to a colleague. He shook his head to himself. He couldn't, he wouldn't know what to say, not after all these years. He'd settle for looking at her from a distance, no matter how much watching her body move as her blue eyes sparkled and her hair fell around her face made him ache for her.

Emily continued to stand out there and talk and Jason continued to watch her. Part of him thought this was wrong, watching her like that. Thinking for a moment, he started to logic out watching Emily. He was just checking up on an old acquaintance. One who had a run in with Callisto, a goddess who'd already proven the ability to hold grudges for hundreds of years. The others didn't have time to be concerned with Emily. But she worked close to where he lived, and he could drive by here on his way home to check on her, make sure she was ok. Yes, that was what he'd have to do. Continue to check on her from afar to monitor her safety. The fact that his heart was racing and his mind was full of x rated thoughts had nothing to do with it.

He had no plans on letting her know he was there. What good would it do? Open old wounds? Ruin his fantasies? He didn't want to do that, he wanted nothing more than to continue to monitor her and make sure she was alright. It was what a good power ranger should do. Anyway it sounded much better than the truth, a truth he wasn't going to admit to at the moment. The truth that he wanted to see her because deep down he still had feelings for her. That she still made his heart flutter like she did ten years ago. But that, that he was going to keep hidden.

He continued to watch as the conversation wound down and Emily made her way over toward a gold Toyota Camry. Pulling the keys out of her pocket she hit the button for the locks and climbed in. The car started and sat for a moment before its reverse lights came on and she backed out of her space. Jason stayed put until he watched her car pull out of the lot and take off.

Once he was satisfied that he would be out of her view, he cranked his motorcycle back up and headed home.

* * *

Kim sat on her bed as she worked on boxing up the rest of her things. Well it wasn't exactly her bed, it belonged to Carri, who had been kind enough to let her use it the last few months without ever asking for anything in return. It would be weird not being Carri's roommate, they shared everything together. Although she had been spending so much time with Tommy lately neither girl was likely to be able to tell the difference.

She kind of wished that Carri was there that night instead of off at a baseball game. She wanted to talk to her about things, about her day and some of her new abilities. Not that Carri could help her with her abilities but she wouldn't freak out as much about her concerns as Tommy would. Of course on the other had it was kind of nice that Carri wasn't around and Tommy hadn't arrived yet as it gave her time to sit around the room and think.

Quickly thoughts of her day strolled back in and took over. Today had been one of those days that you'd like to start from scratch and see if you could do it a little better. She'd been on an emotional roller coaster between Jason's book coverage to the monster fight to her day at work. At least the day was over and now she could just concentrate on getting moved out with Tommy.

She smiled to herself as she thought about Tommy. He was going to be there shortly to help her get everything packed in their two cars and get it over to his place. She couldn't believe how much stuff she'd accumulated in the short months she had been back, and she was continuing to fill boxes. A portion of it she blamed Carri for, and her insistence that shopping sprees can improve the worst of moods. She'd have to give her credit, she was right. Carri would either drag her to the mall or to the beach to make her feel better. And once she'd even gotten her to the mall to buy a bathing suit so she could drag her to the beach in new fashions. Of course their excursions were nothing like what they were in college, but they still had fun.

Kim chuckled. That wouldn't change no matter who she lived with. Although it would be a lot harder to drag Kim out of Tommy's apartment. For a moment she got giddy thinking to herself about how she was going to live with Tommy. Sure she'd roomed with him after college, but things were different then. He was always so busy and their lives were taking two completely different paths. Now although they both had careers, both of their lives were focused on the same ranger related goal. Their ranger goals would eventually differ since she was a Muirantian now, but she believed that they'd be able to work together this time. A lot had changed since she left for her quest all those years ago.

Some things hadn't changed. The way she loved Tommy hadn't changed. As she jumped up off the bed and started to pull things out from underneath it to pack, she started to think about their relationship over the years. It was a wonderful teenage relationship in high school. She could vividly remember their first time spent together as if it were yesterday. Then when she moved home to attend college and they started back up it became the basis of their adult relationship.

Things between them were amazing when they were in college. They were both more mature than most of the kids on campus, something that as much as she hated to admit it she owed Rita for. They were both ready to have an adult relationship in every aspect and she loved every minute of it. The romantic things he did for her, the way he touched her, it still brought chills down her spine. Although they'd both changed over the years there was no denying that level of romance was still there but even more so.

She was excited to see where the future took them. She'd seen where it took K. She'd seen her marriage with her Tommy. She and K followed similar paths and she hoped hers would one day lead to that kind of commitment with her Tommy. But not now, she wasn't quite sure they were ready for it now.

Reaching under the bed she grabbed a hold of something that was buried deep. Thoughts of Tommy still danced around her mind as she pulled the object hard causing it to come flying out from under the bed. With it came plenty of dust floating around in the air. The dust surrounded Kim and started to tickle her nose. Not being able to standing it anymore she reared back and let out a sneeze. Then as if her day hadn't been bad enough already, a portal opened from within her and she disappeared.


	15. Learning Curve

**Disclaimer:** Just a reminder that as always the Power Rangers belong to Saban, Callisto to Universal, and all other characters to me. And of course any reference to the Nova Rangers or K and her world are property of KSuzie.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Learning Curve"

The light faded from within and Kim found herself standing on grass. She wasn't quite sure what happened or how she got there, and she could only assumed that it had to do with her Muirantian powers. Slowly she looked around her surroundings. She had been deposited in Angel Grove Park. Letting out a little sigh she started to walk around.

It could have been worse. Her first time teleporting herself could've been a disaster. At least she wasn't too far from Carri's place. She'd just walk back and finish packing and for the moment forget the entire incident even happened. Of course she'd have to address it, figure out how she did it and how she could control it. She wasn't sure what to do at the moment, perhaps she'd end up going to see Dulcea.

She glanced up briefly and examined her surroundings as she looked around the park. For a moment she stopped. She knew exactly where she was in the park but something wasn't right. The scenery was slightly different. It was still familiar, only more like a memory to her than reality. Kim shook her head. She wasn't sure what she'd gotten herself into but she didn't think it was going to end up being good.

As she walked around the park she spotted a figure darting through and toward the lake. A figure Kim easily recognized. Quickly she moved out of the way and hid behind some bushes as the figure called her name. After she was safely hidden out of view she looked the figure over. He was young, wearing a green shirt with long hair. Not as long as she'd seen it get, but much different from the short cut he currently sported.

Suddenly a figure in pink rushed into Tommy's arms. She, of course, was the girl in pink. Kim tried not to laugh out loud as she took in her pink sundress and the biker shorts, paired with pink boots and crew socks. She had forgotten what fashion meant when she was in high school. She had always been a trendsetter, but looking back she couldn't believe what had actually passed for fashion. What she had let pass for fashion. Carri would just die if she saw her like this. That is, of course, assuming that New York hadn't followed California's lead and Carri wasn't in her own world wearing her own sundress and boots combo.

That thought slid away as she watched Tommy and Kim share in a kiss. She vaguely remembered that kiss. It was one of their early ones, young and sloppy, but it made her tingle in her youth. She smiled as more of the scene unfolded in front of her.

"Hey bro." a voice called. Kim turned to the source of the voice to find Jason and the others jogging over. "Are we going to play or not?" he asked holding up a volleyball

"Of course we're going to play." Tommy said as he went to hold Kim's hand

Kim looked them all over and early ninety's fashions flooded her thoughts again. Billy stood in his overalls with his blue shirt, wearing the glasses Kim always thought were a size to big for him. Zack was wearing a shirt with big bold vertical stripes and black pants, while Trini wore a simple yellow shirt and white shorts. Jason was more than dressed the part of their jock leader in his red sleeveless top and jean shorts.

Memories of those times came flooding back to her. Memories of that particular day came back to her. That's when it started to process. These were memories, her memories of events that happened years ago. Yet here she was watching them as though they were current events. That could only mean one thing. One not so good thing. That somehow she had teleported herself back to the past.

Kim took a few deep breaths. She had to stay calm and not freak out. She knew she would develop these kinds of powers. Of course that didn't mean she was going to be ready to use them when they surfaced. Who was she kidding, she'd never be ready. Sure she was trained by Dulcea but the fact that she could do these sorts of things still freaked her out. Here her powers were fully developed and she had no idea what to do. K told her that it would take time, that she would learn and that there would probably be some mishaps in between. Well this was a major mishap.

First things first. Kim knew well enough that she had to stay away from herself and the other rangers. God knows the last thing she needed to do was influence them to do something that would alter the course of history as she knew it. She didn't even know how her subconscious mind sent her there in the first place.

It may have had something to do with how had been thinking about the growth of her relationship with Tommy shortly before she disappeared. The strange thing was the fact that she wasn't concentrating on the early days of her relationship. Those had been more of a side note, what she was really thinking about were the days when their relationship started to heat up. Those thoughts made her smile as they crossed her mind. Now wasn't the time but she couldn't help but think about it as she leaned into the bush she was hiding behind.

Without warning she found something tickling her nose again and she began to sneeze. Before she could stop herself she opened up another portal from within and teleported herself away.

* * *

Kim suppressed a groan as she quickly realized she'd teleported herself somewhere else. A brief glance around was enough for her to realize that she was in her old apartment, the one she shared with Jason, Carri and Billy while she was in college.

She could hear noises coming from the couch. Quietly she leaned over the countertop and tried to get a good look at what was going on. It didn't take long for her to realize that it was herself and Tommy making all the noise on the couch. She smiled as she noticed that his hair was longer than before and her fashion sense had improved.

Watching them for a moment she suddenly recalled this particular session on the couch. It got her feeling giddy and wanting her own Tommy, wanting to feel his touch on her skin and his lips against hers. The moment passed when it clicked that this was another memory. That she was still in the past.

Part of her panicked. In the park there were lots of places to hide. Here she didn't have many options. She couldn't slip out or try to make it to the bedrooms because they'd notice. And once again she wasn't going to mess with the timeline. She took a deep breath as she sunk down to the floor, pressing herself against the cabinets in the corner and hoping that they wouldn't find any reason to come into the kitchen.

Her mind was racing as she thought of all the things she could say if they caught her. This team was older than the last one she'd watched. Their Zordon had already been captured so the conversation would be between her and a team of past and present rangers as she remembered how Billy and Trini would most likely be involved. At least they were older and it wouldn't be hard to convince them that she was from another dimension and had landed here on accident. Or something like that. Anything but the truth.

She tried to stay calm as she listened to the noises coming from the couch. The emotions of that particular day started to come back to her and as she sat back and closed her eyes she heard the doorknob rattle. The noises on the couch stopped as the door opened.

"Hey guys." she could hear Carri greet the duo from the doorway

"We weren't interrupting anything were we?" Jason asked and a flash of the mischievous grin she remembered Jason having came to Kim's mind as she heard Emily hush him and Rocky laugh.

She found herself picturing the scene from the floor. The rest of that day started flooding back into her memory. Jason, Emily, Rocky and Carri had all gone to lunch and an afternoon movie. Tommy had been with his brother that morning and she'd had a meeting with some of the students in her communications group which is why they didn't go. They had more than enjoyed having part of the afternoon to themselves. And if this was going the way she remembered it going, she thought she may be alright. Relief came over her as she thought about how just maybe she could make it out of this without being spotted.

"The sun came out." she heard Carri state. "Which means there's a beautiful, almost guaranteed to be uncrowded beach out there waiting for us."

Kim recalled a time when she and Carri were almost always on the beach and she'd never turn down the chance to go. Just as she suspected, her younger self jumped at the opportunity.

"Great let's go." she said eagerly

"We were going to come by, change and pick you two up then go get the boys suits." Carri continued

"Let's do it." Kim replied

The older Kim sat in the kitchen and listened as four sets of feet made their way down the hallway, leaving Rocky and Tommy alone in the livingroom. She, Kim and Jason had gone to their rooms and Jason had taken Emily with them as she'd kept spare clothes for the rare night she spent at their apartment.

Kim ignored the sounds of the boys chatting as she thought momentarily about Jason and Emily. She was over there as much as she could've been as she worked and in the latter part of their relationship went back to school. Jason spent more time with her in Angel Grove, something Kim never quite liked. Sometimes on the weekends she was free and he couldn't get away she wouldn't come visit him.

She'd had excuses and at the time they hadn't phased Kim a bit, she had no reason not to believe her. But looking back she couldn't help but wonder if she'd taken those opportunities to mess around behind his back. They were in love once, she wouldn't argue that fact. But the way they fell apart Kim found herself losing a lot of faith in a girl that she considered to be a friend. Emily had swore that it had only been the one guy the one time but Jason didn't care and now Kim wasn't so sure.

At any rate she was glad that it had ended and she hadn't dragged Jason along any longer than she already did. It was hard for him but Kim always thought it was for the best. She never thought he fully recovered, but she and Carri had spent a lot of time lifting his spirits back up and finally he was back to the old Jason, at least in most aspects. To this day he still carried relationship issues but she couldn't blame him.

Kim was pulled away from her thoughts as doors started opening and the footsteps headed back in the direction of the living room. "Are we ready to go?" Rocky asked

"Just let me get some water." Kim replied

The older Kim took a deep breath as she heard her younger self's sandal clack against the linoleum floor. "Don't worry about it I thought ahead. I've got a case in a cooler in the car." Carri told her

"Alright. Let's go." Kim replied. The sandal once again scraped against the floor before making it's way to the front door.

Kim listened as the door opened and the rangers went through, their voices fading until someone shut the door. She waited until she heard the lock catch before letting out a sigh of relief. "Shit." she said to herself as she thought about what a close call that had been.

Although the younger rangers were gone, that still didn't solve any of her problems. She still found herself sitting in the kitchen of the apartment she resided in more than eight years ago with no real knowledge of how she got there besides a power she knew nothing about, and no way to get home.

At least she knew her powers were basically fully developed and ready to go. She had the ability to teleport herself she just had no idea how to use or control it. Perhaps there was a way to get to Dulcea. She was her mentor, she'd be able to help her. She could always sneak into the Command Chamber when she thought it was clear and teleport herself to Phaedos. Of course there was the possibility that she'd change something there. After all it was a few years before she showed up on the planet for training.

Who was she kidding. She needed to get to present day Dulcea, she just had no idea how to do it. She leaned her head back hard against the cabinet. As she did the dish towel that had been haphazardly thrown up on the counter fell down into her face. It tickled her nose and she found herself starting to sneeze again. She tried not to, she tried to will herself not to do it, but it was to late. Within seconds she was gone.

* * *

As the portal from within disappeared, Kim felt the warm sun on her cheeks. She blinked a few times as she opened her eyes and adjusted them to the natural light. One look at her surroundings told her exactly where she was. She had taken herself slightly inland on the beaches of Phaedos.

She let out a sigh as she realized finally something she wanted to do came out right. Well she really just wanted to go home and finish packing, but she was well aware of the fact that the emergence of this new power meant that she had to have a conversation with someone who knew more than she did.

Looking around she found the familiar path that would lead her to the ancient ruins, the location where Dulcea spent most of her time and would probably already be waiting for her. The hike to the ruins wasn't the easiest, but she had done it so many times it didn't phase her anymore. She knew what to watch for and where to step, and before long she found herself climbing up the side of the ruins themselves.

As she peered over the top she found her mentor waiting for her. "Dulcea." Kim greeted the Phaedosian Warrior.

"Kimberly." she replied. She had a feeling she knew why Kim had come there. She'd sensed the formation of her Muirantian powers several weeks ago and she felt it when she used them to teleport to Phaedos. Whether or not she'd done it on purpose was unclear, but she still did it and now she was here seeking her help.

"I need your help." Kim said confirming Dulcea's thoughts. "I've gained these powers, these Muirantian powers, and I don't know how to control them."

"You were wise to come see me." Dulcea told her. "I can help to show you what powers you have and to teach you how to use them. We have already been through training so it will be easier. But it will still take years of practice for you to learn to master your new abilities."

"I figured as much." Kim said remembering K's words to her. "I didn't expect to leave here with mastery of my powers, I want to learn control. Sneezing makes me teleport myself everywhere."

Dulcea smiled at her as she realized she knew nothing about these powers. "It has nothing to do with you sneezing. Your emotions were running high and when you sneezed you jarred your inner balance, causing your powers to activate."

"Good so I don't have to make myself sneeze to teleport." Kim mused smiling at Dulcea

"No you will access your power from within to teleport." Dulcea assured her. "It will take a while to learn how to access the power to teleport you where you want to go. But I can teach you how to control yourself so you are not teleporting accidentally."

That was what was most important to Kim. If she could learn how to control her powers and learn how to use them, she'd work on her own time on mastering them. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to learn how to control them. She had to get back home, there were people counting on her. "What about my duty on Earth?" Kim question. "We still have Callisto and Rhianna to deal with, I can't spend that much time here."

"Do not worry about that." Dulcea told her. "When we are finished here I will help you teleport yourself back home to a time only moments after you left."

"Great." Kim said eager to learn about her abilities. "Then let's get started."

* * *

Kim spent the first few weeks with Dulcea learning about all the powers she may develop that were connected to her Muirantian abilities. She was surprised about all she could do, all she might be able to do in the future. Most of her abilities were a matter of learning how to use them, which was something Dulcea would show her in the coming weeks.

Not that she would be good at any of them, but by learning about them when the time was right she'd be able to try them out and hopefully one day master them. They were first going to worry about her ability to teleport herself. That was the one that was most prominent at the moment, and that was the one that would cause the most commotion if she accidentally used it on Earth.

Dulcea had already spent a lot of time teaching her how to center herself. It was a technique Kim quickly got a hold of and had learned how to keep herself centered over the last few weeks. The sensations she felt when she was in control of her powers were amazing, like nothing she'd ever felt before. She could feel the power flowing through her veins, feel her connection with the pit, the source of her power. When she was centered she could keep herself from accidentally teleporting off somewhere. But that was only the surface of the powers she could feel growing within her. She was anxious to see where they would take her.

Of course it was a problem that sometimes things around her would rock her powers and throw her out of control, of out balance and that's where problems could be created. But Kim was working hard to be able to quickly recenter herself to avoid any major catastrophe. Now that she was getting good at being able to quickly center herself and control her teleportation power, Dulcea was ready to teach her how to use that power. It was going to take a lot of practice for Kim to learn how to access that power on command, let alone figure out how to take herself where she wanted to go. Dulcea was preparing for the mishaps and once she was ready the training would begin.

Kim was doing her exercises on the top of the ruins while waiting for Dulcea to determine that she was ready to start trying to access her teleportation powers intentionally. As she focused on what she was doing a white owl flew across her line of vision. Seconds later it transformed into Dulcea. "Are you ready for some more training?" she asked

"Yes." Kim replied as she stopped the work she was doing. She was excited to get to work some with her teleportation abilities

"Before we begin, do you still have the staff I gave you on your last training visit?" Dulcea questioned knowing full well what the answer was

"Of course I do." Kim replied. She was a master at using the staff as a weapon and accessing the little power it held. But once she left Phaedos and continued her search for Rhianna she rarely called for it as her ninjetti powers were much more effective in battle.

"Would you call for it?" Dulcea requested of her

Kim nodded and reached her hand out. It wasn't long before her staff fell into it. The moment she touched it she realized something about the staff was different. The plain white crystal that sat atop it was now red and she could feel her Muirantian powers connecting with it, coursing through it.

"The staff now has powers of its own. Magical powers you can call upon if you need them." Dulcea informed her as she watched her look at it in amazement

"What can it do?" Kim asked curiously

"I will teach you about your staff just as I will teach you what I can about using your other powers." Dulcea assured her. "It will still fall to you to use and master it."

That's what Dulcea was telling her about all her powers. She could teach her but it fell to her to understand how to use them and learn how to master them. It was fine with her, it meant she wouldn't be spending much time on Phaedos before she could get back to life on Earth. After all, she had done the bulk of her training years ago. This session was just to show her the powers she had access to, she could work on mastering them on her own time.

Kim made a face to herself as she thought about time. Once upon a time it was a simple concept to her. Everything was liner, it went from point A to point B. Things that took time progressed as you got older. But time for her was different now. She would be able to manipulate time. It would take time to fully learn these powers. It would take decades to master every power she obtained from her encounter in the pit.

Yet if she chose it the time didn't have to be liner. She could disappear in the middle of the night and return an hour later, only to have spent decades traveling worlds in order to master her powers. All the while she wouldn't be getting older. Sure she'd gain years on her life like everyone did, but her years were different. Her years wouldn't age her like they would her friends. In what would be mere hours to her friends she could become just as old and just as much of a master as K was. Her seemingly twenty-eight year old self could be two hundred fifty and noone would know. Noone would ever notice. Her friends would age normally and pass away, and she could be hundreds of years older than them and still look like she did standing in front of Dulcea today. She closed her eyes and forced the tears to stay back as the reality of what she had become sunk in.

"Kimberly? Is everything alright?" Dulcea asked as she noticed the shift in her mood

"Everything's fine." Kim replied as she opened her eyes. She supposed she should be able to express these concerns with Dulcea who was hundreds of years older than her. For a moment she couldn't help but wonder how many loved ones she'd seen pass away in her lifetime. She gripped her staff tightly and tried to shake the thoughts off. Now was not the time to worry about any of that. Now she had to finish what she set out to do and get home. "Let's get back to the training." she said simply, her mind refocused and ready to go

* * *

Several months passed on Phaedos while Kim continued her training. She learned about what she could do, had accessed several abilities, but knew a lot about none of them. The teleportation she was starting to get the hang of. She wasn't close to getting herself to where she wanted to go, but she knew how to access the power and make herself disappear.

It was coming to a point where Dulcea could no longer teach her anything. It would be up to Kim to take what she'd been shown and put it to use, to practice her knowledge to work toward the mastery of her powers. Dulcea was quite pleased with her progress, she had done well. Most would take years to get this far, but Kim did already have the advantage of being trained on Phaedos.

It was because of this that Dulcea decided it was time for Kim to get back to where she belonged. She was as prepared as she would be and she had her own planet and her own battles back home that would require her assistance. Dulcea headed to the ruins to find Kim practicing as usual. "Kimberly." Dulcea greeted

Kim was surprised by her visitor and was momentarily distracted. She took a deep breath and quickly pulled herself back into focus. "Dulcea." she replied nodding in her direction. "What's going on?"

"There is nothing more I can teach you here." Dulcea told her

Kim nodded. She had suspected as much. For the last week Kim had done a lot of her own training, working with her abilities and trying to figure out how they worked. "So it's time for me to go home?" she asked although it was more of a statement than a question

"Yes it is." Dulcea replied nodding at her

"How am I going to get home?" Kim questioned. Dulcea promised that she would help her find her way back but at the moment she wasn't sure how she was going to do that.

Dulcea held out her hand. In it sat a small crystal. "Take this." she said simply as Kim reached out and grabbed a small crystal. "That is a teleportation crystal. If you use your Muirantian powers to activate the crystal it will take you back to a time close to that of the time you departed Earth." She paused and watched as Kim nodded in understanding. "Keep that crystal with you while you practice your teleportation abilities. Until you learn how correctly return to your own time, the crystal will always take you back close to the moment you left the correct timeline."

"Thank you." Kim replied. That was something she had been worried about recently. Dulcea helped her so that she could return to Phaedos while she was practicing. She was worried that until she got a better grip on that ability she would be practicing at home and teleport off, unable to get back to the correct time. Depending on how far off she was that could be a disaster.

"You are welcome." Dulcea replied. "Good luck Kimberly." she said as she watched her hold the crystal and the crystal start to glow. "And may the power protect you." she spoke as in a flash of light she was gone

* * *

When the light faded from around her she found herself back in her bedroom in Carri's house. She glanced briefly over at the clock. She couldn't have been gone more than ten minutes, twenty tops. The door to her room was still shut and all her boxes still there so it was a safe assumption that Tommy hadn't gotten there yet.

She let out a deep breath as she sat down on the bed. It was starting already. It had only been a short time on her world but she had been on Phaedos nearly six months. Here she stood six months older than she should be. In real time she should be celebrating her twenty-ninth birthday right about now. But in her timeline it was only the end of August and she still had almost six months to go before she'd officially age another year. So now here she sat, accomplishing a feat that she would have once thought to be impossible. She was older than some of the other rangers that had been born before her.

It was a hard thought to swallow but it was one she'd have to get used to. She had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time she bent time to get something accomplished. She had a lot of work to do and once she got a hold of her teleportation powers it might be beneficial to take off some and work on mastering her abilities.

She didn't plan on taking off for long periods of time. In the time she'd been gone she'd terribly missed everyone back on Earth, especially Tommy. Fortunately she didn't have much time to think about it as she had to focus on the task at hand. But when she laid there at night trying to rest she thought about how much she longed for him to hold her. And once he arrived she wanted nothing more than to jump into his arms and show her love for him.

However she wasn't quite sure she could do that, not without admitting where she'd been. And she didn't think she was ready to admit it to Tommy yet. She'd tell him that her powers were developing further, she wouldn't deny that. But the fact that she'd been gone for so long in practically the blink of an eye, that was something she wasn't sure if she would fill him in on. Did he really need to know that she could be gone for years in her time and moments in his? Did she need to be elsewhere worrying about him worrying about her? She didn't think so. Not now anyway. She'd tell him eventually, she had to. But for now it would be her secret.

Kim looked around the room and saw the few things that needed to be packed. She stood and walked over to them, picking them up and tossing them in one of the open boxes. As she did she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." she called

The door cracked open and Tommy's smiling face greeted her. "Hey. I hope you don't mind me letting myself in."

"No of course not." Kim replied flashing him a smile. It was definitely good to see his face again.

Tommy walked over to her and gave her a kiss. "So are you about ready to start hauling this stuff out and start getting you moved?"

"Close enough." Kim replied gesturing around the room. "I just have a few things left to pack."

"Here let me help." Tommy said as he started picking things up and handing them to her. He was more than a little exited to be helping her box the remainder of her possessions up to take to his apartment. He and Kim were moving in together. Not that they hadn't lived together before, but this time would be different. They were both more focused on each other this time and they didn't have the distractions they had the last time they lived together.

Kim started shoving things in boxes any way they would fit. "Thanks." she said as she flashed him a smile

Ten minutes later they had the remainder of Kim's things packed up and ready to go. Tommy walked over toward her and put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "Shall we get this into the cars?" he asked as he nuzzled into her neck

"We might as well keep moving." Kim replied. Although feeling him against her body put wicked thoughts in her head that had nothing to do with her moving.

Tommy pulled back and looked Kim in the eye before kissing her on the forehead. "Great. Let's get to it. Then we can go home."

Kim smiled at him. Home. That sounded good to her.

* * *

While Kim and Tommy were dragging boxes out of the house, its owner was standing up in front of her seat in a packed stadium with another ranger screaming at the top of her lungs. "Go go go!" Carri encouraged the base runner. She watched as he slid into third, then sat down as her body tensed up. "Safe?" she questioned

"Safe." Rocky replied as the umpire gave the signal and Carri relaxed, sliding back down into her seat. He put his arm around her and smiled over at her. It was nice going to a Dodger game with her actually cheering for the Dodgers. Which was pretty much any time they didn't play the Astros.

"Good." Carri said. It was early in the game but any time you could get runners into scoring position it was good. "Only one out. They should get him home."

"I would hope so." Rocky would be highly disappointed in his team if they didn't. He looked out over the field as the game continued. He was glad that they'd made it on time, they almost didn't. He had spent way too much time at his Stone Canyon school then he'd had an issue to deal with at the Los Angeles school. It was minor, but it took up his time all the same. By the time he met up with Carri, gotten up there and gotten snacks and drinks, the game was starting. It was the bottom of the second and they were just starting to settle down and get into the action.

The ball flew out of the pitcher's hands and over the plate. There was the distinct noise of the ball hitting wood, then it flew out into the outfield. "Fall, fall." Carri chanted knowing that the ball was lingering too long for that

As the left fielder caught it close to the wall the runner on third tagged up and raced for home. He made it in time, giving the Dodgers a one nothing lead. As the cheers from the crowd died down the next batter came up, hitting the ball lazily to short for an easy out. The crowd settled down and Rocky spoke.

"So how was your day?" he asked casually. He had a lot he wanted to talk to her about and figured that the question was as good as any to get the conversation started.

"Good. I had an interesting lunch with Matty. I met up with my co-hosts, bounced some unofficial ideas." she told him. All in all it had been a relatively easy day if one didn't include the monster battle that they'd kicked it off with. "Yours?"

"You have an idea about mine. Spent most of it in Angel Grove before traveling to the other to schools and having interesting times at both." he replied thinking about how he was going to get to the first point he wanted to talk about

"Define interesting?" Carri asked turning her attention from the field and glancing over at him

"You know about LA." he said pausing before he went into the rest of it. He noticed the Dodgers jogging back onto the field as he continued. "I had a run in with Jessica at Stone Canyon."

"Christ. What now?" Carri asked rolling her eyes into the back of her head and letting out a noise indicating she was anything but pleased

He had to come right out and tell her. Regardless of the fact that he didn't do anything, if she found this out some other way flip out and kill him. "She kept trying to distract me and make a big deal out of the fact that she's pregnant."

"She's what?" Carri asked the alternate universe flooding her memory

"Don't worry." Rocky said hoping that she wasn't going to boil over. He was afraid he only had seconds to calm her down before she exploded. "It's not mine. It can't be. We haven't slept together in six months."

Carri breathed heavily for a moment. "You're right. She is a little slut." she said as she calmed herself down. There was no need to get angry over it. And she was glad to hear it from him rather than hear it from someone else. "Besides it can't be yours."

From the way she spoke the last line Rocky picked up on the message. That if it was his child he would suffer all the hell and fury that Carri could possibly bring on him. "You're right, it can't. Who knows with her how many guys she's slept with in the last month or two."

Carri nodded and turned toward the game, watching as the first batter dropped a ball right over the second baseman's head, landing him a single. She declined to comment further, he knew how she felt and she had nothing more to say. She could care less that the little slut was running around getting knocked up, as long as it had nothing to do with Rocky or her.

"Hey is Kim still moving out tonight?" Rocky asked changing the subject

"Yeah." Carri replied. She was sad to lose her roommate and it showed in her response. At the same time she was thrilled for her that she was going to move in with Tommy. "It's ok though. I'll get used to not having her around."

"Maybe you could replace her?" Rocky suggested. He had thought about it for a long time. If Kim was moving out, perhaps he could move in with her.

"Replace Kim? With what? A dog?" she asked sarcastically. Kim was her best friend. She couldn't exactly substitute her with a plant or an animal.

Rocky laughed. "That wasn't exactly what I had in mind." he said as she looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "I was thinking maybe with me."

"You want to stay in my guest room?" she toyed with him

Rocky put his arms around her and pulled her as close as he could in the stadium seats. "You know what I mean."

Carri thought for a moment as she watched the next batter hit into a double play. It would be nice to have him living with her. They lived together before and it was good. But there were other things to consider. "Don't you have your own place?"

Rocky had thought it all out and thought he had pretty good answers to anything she could ask him. "I was thinking that you could help me go through my stuff and figure out what to keep and what to store. Then I'll keep paying rent until I can get someone to take over my lease."

Carri surprised him by putting his head in her hands and giving him a kiss. "Let's do it."

It took a moment for Rocky to absorb what she'd said as he was a little startled by her reaction at first. "Great." he said giving her a smile as they both settled down and focused their attention back on the game

* * *

Jason parked his motorcycle and hopped off of it, grabbing his helmet as he headed inside. After he'd seen Emily he'd driven around for a while to clear his head before finally deciding to come home. He didn't think the drive had helped any. As he headed inside thoughts of Emily were still bouncing around in his head.

Sitting down on the couch he tried to will those thoughts away but they wouldn't leave him. He was starting to have second thoughts about going to see her. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, maybe he should've just let her be. But of course it was too late for second thoughts. He had seen her and remembered how much he missed her and now he couldn't get her off of his mind. The more he thought about her, the more he thought about how maybe he should call her or drop in at her house.

It was possible he could find access to that information about Emily through the Command Chambers files. He hadn't looked before but he felt inclined to now. There was something tugging at him telling him not to do it but there was an even greater force encouraging him to go. Not sure if it was the right decision, Jason stood up and teleported himself to the Command Chamber.

As he arrived he was surprised to be greeted by two of his friends. "Jason?" Trini questioned as she and her husband looked up at him. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Uh, no, nothing's wrong." he stammered. He couldn't believe that there was someone in there, he'd expected it to be empty.

"What's going on? Did you need to see me for something?" Billy asked. The rangers never just popped in without having some sort of ranger related purpose. The Command Chamber wasn't exactly a hang out spot.

"Oh, no." Jason quickly assured him as he shook his head. He paused for a moment while he tried to think of a good excuse for his appearance in the Command Chamber. "I just like to come up here sometimes. By myself. And look over recent battles and information we have on Callisto and Rhianna. It helps me work things out in my head. You know, future strategies and such. Once a red, always a red." he smiled after that and prayed they believed him

"Oh, ok." Billy replied rather surprised by his explanation. Not that it was a big deal but he couldn't believe that Jason was in and out going through files and he was unaware. It made him think that he needed to step up security. The filters on the building wouldn't allow anyone evil on the premises but it was always better to be safe than sorry. "We'll be leaving shortly. We just stopped to check a few things and then it's off to dinner."

"That's fine. I can just come back later." Jason replied. He had no plans of coming back. If there was a higher power this was its way of saying it was bad enough to go to her work address, he didn't need to snoop for her home number or home address as well. He would forget about all of this and limit himself to driving by her work on his way home to see her.

"Are you sure? We won't be long." Billy assured him

"It's fine. I have other things to do anyway." Jason said as he teleported himself out

Trini turned to Billy once the last flashes of black light disappeared. "That seemed odd." she said. She knew Jason well and she had gaged his reactions carefully. Something wasn't quite right but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"It was." Billy agreed before thinking for a moment. "But all of the rangers are stressed and worried about Callisto and Rhianna and they all have different methods of dealing with it."

"I suppose so. It just seemed as though he had something else on his mind." Trini said as she went back to what she was doing before the interruption

"It has been my observation that he has been acting differently since he and Michelle ended their relationship." Billy pointed out. Jason kept saying that it didn't bother him but those around him could tell that it did. Carri and Kim had said privately that if he didn't snap out of his funk and try dating again, they were going to try setting him up.

"It's understandable. Heartbreak is hard. And he's seen a lot of heartbreak." Trini replied. She was fortunate that she hadn't experienced much heartbreak. The last time she'd been hurt by someone she was young and still at the Peace Conferences. It was hard but Zack had been there to help her through it. Soon she was back on her feet and casually dating again. And it wasn't long after that she had flown home and started dating the love of her life.

"You're right." Billy replied as he glanced over at his wife and thought about what she said. He made eye contact with her briefly before smiling. He hadn't really experienced any heartbreak. His most serious relationship before Trini was Cestria, and that dissolved itself before he even had a chance to be heartbroken over it. He was lucky that he and Trini had come together so young. They dated for a few years before they had gotten married. She finished school and thanks to his superior intellect he was able to fly through college himself, earning his doctorate while working for the company he was currently with. He proposed to her while he was still in school and it wasn't long after he graduated that he was promoted into his current position and was able to buy his house and have a huge wedding with Trini. Turning back to his work he supposed he owed the rangers for him being so well off. It wasn't hard for him to get his foot in the door of his company as he was easily able to show how much more advanced he was than everyone thanks to his time working with the rangers and his time spent on Aquitar.

A silence fell between them as they both continued doing the work that needed to get done. As Billy made the final adjustments he wanted to make he turned toward his wife and spoke. "Are we ready to go to dinner?"

"Of course." Trini said, standing to take her husband's hand. The duo teleported off leaving the Command Chamber empty.

* * *

Callisto sat in the dark in silence, dwelling on that morning's attack. Moldinator was a silly children's toy monster, but it had actually packed quite a bit of fire power. The electric slime molds had been Rhianna's personal adjustments and she was surprisingly impressed with them.

She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. Rhianna was learning quickly and was more than willing to absorb any advice on being an evil tyrant that Callisto had to give. She had a feeling that one day Rhianna would be a better sorceress and more evil than either of her parents had been. That was, of course, assuming she survived the power that Callisto was going to see to it she got.

The fact that she was obtaining these powers was her secret that she had only shared with Cratus. Should Goldar find out he'd warn Rhianna not to take the powers no matter how tempting they were. Callisto didn't see what the big deal was. Just because the only documented case of the use of these powers had ended poorly didn't mean that it would end that way for Rhianna. In fact, although she wouldn't be sorry over her loss, she hoped that Rhianna's case ended more favorably. She had a lot of potential, she could rule the universe one day.

Of course she could only rule the universe if she could get past her parent's purification and deaths as evil beings and see the bigger picture. It would be hard, if anyone knew that it was Callisto. She herself had finally gotten past the need for revenge and just wanted to be a goddess and make a lot of noise. Of course now she had gone back to revenge but that was ok. She was several millennia old and thought she had earned the right to bide her time as she pleased. Besides she had managed to put revenge aside a few times. She'd successfully worked with Astronema. And after the final battle on Earth she had been involved in some conquering and destruction that had nothing to do with revenge.

She actually found herself looking forward to going back and causing random destruction throughout the universe after she was done with the rangers of Earth. She would start from Reiga 4 for payback to the Novas and then go on from there. She could kill more rangers, devastate more planets, it would be fun. As she amused herself with ideas of things to come a figure appeared in the shadows, one that was easily recognizable.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned as the gold armor of the creature in front of her started sparkling from the few beams of light that were bouncing around the room from the outside

"Rhianna wanted to discuss future battle strategies with you." Goldar said simply, glancing over at the figure of the woman in front of her. He still didn't like her or trust her, but Rhianna was gaining respect for her and she was starting to put more faith in what she had to say and what she wanted to do.

"Of course." Callisto replied as she stood. She appreciated how Rhianna wanted to be involved and know exactly what they were going to do to crush the rangers. She ignored Goldar and walked right past him and through the door, heading off to find Rhianna.

* * *

Carri pulled into her garage and hopped out, heading down to the mailbox as Rocky pulled in and parked behind her. The Dodgers had won and they had made it back to Angel Grove relatively early for attending a baseball game.

The second car engine shut off and Rocky stepped out. He had insisted on going back to her house with her, calling it his first official night there. He was more than a little excited to have the opportunity to live with her again. The time he spent living with her was some of his fondest memories. His girlfriend glided by him and headed back into the garage and he quickly followed, putting his hands on her back as she shut the garage and headed into the house.

As she stepped through the threshold into the house she turned and gave Rocky a kiss before tossing her things down and doing a quick glance through the mail. Rocky shut the door and put his arms around her back, kissing her neck as she sorted through to see what was junk and what she needed to keep.

Looking through she found some things addressed to her and some to Kim. She thought about how odd it was going to be to have to keep piles of mail for Kim until she could get it to her. Going though she was surprised to find two identical envelopes, one for her and one for Kim. Both were addressed in eloquent gold lettering and both had seals on the back of them. Setting Kim's down she broke free of Rocky and went to sit on the couch to open hers.

"What's that?" Rocky asked as he went and sat down on the couch next to her, nuzzling up closely

"I don't know." she replied as she opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. Before her was her school symbol and below that in the same writing was "Angel Grove High School Class Of 1997". Smiling to herself she opened it up. "It's our ten year reunion."

"Ten years? Damn." Rocky replied as she nodded. It didn't feel like it had been ten years. Most of it flew by like it was nothing. He glanced at the invitation briefly as Carri read it over, assuming that he had one of his own at his apartment waiting to be read.

"October thirteenth." she replied shaking her head. "It's wild."

"So Kim got one too?" Rocky replied, watching as his girlfriend nodded. It was easy to forget that she had graduated absentee from Angel Grove High School. She had finished her school work with a private tutor in Florida and they had sent her a diploma.

"Can you believe it has been ten years?" Carri questioned. Chalk it up to the rangers, but the last ten years were all a whirlwind and it seemed like only yesterday she was moving into the guest bedroom in her Aunt and Uncle's house.

"It's been eleven years since the first time we dated." Rocky pointed out. Almost exactly eleven years as their relationship started within the first week of their senior year.

Carri couldn't help but laugh. "And my mom always thought noone could put up with me for that long."

"It's been a challenge." Rocky said shaking his head and trying not to smile. "At least you gave me a break for a while."

Carri swatted at him before leaning in to give him a kiss and nestling herself into his chest. "It will be exciting to see everyone we went to high school with."

"It will." Rocky agreed as he wrapped his arms around her. He paused for a moment and thought about everything he had gotten from high school. It had been amazing. He'd made life long friends, become a Power Ranger, met the love of his life... he laughed as he thought about all the things he and Carri had gotten into senior year.

"What's so funny?" she asked looking up at him

"Nothing." he replied smiling down at her. "Just thinking about what you and I got into in high school."

She laughed. "We were sloppy in high school." she said referencing the physical parts of the relationship

Rocky snorted as he replied. "I was thinking more along the lines of the adventures we had together and the dates we went on, not the awkward teenaged sex."

"Which was sloppy." she repeated laughing out loud once more

"We were kids." he reminded her. "We were allowed to be sloppy."

"Still." she replied with a shrug and a smile

"How about," he started gently pushing her off of him and down toward the couch, "I make you forget about sloppy."

"Give it your best shot." she joked. She looked up at him and he gave her a kiss before pressing his body against hers and making her quickly forget about sloppy.

* * *

As Carri and Rocky were enjoying the house to themselves, Carri's former roommate had just finished eating dinner after spending the majority of the night unpacking. Kim and Tommy took a while to lug all of her stuff out to the car, transport it, unload it and finally unpack it. They both had been exhausted and had ordered a pizza, sitting on the couch to eat it and watch tv.

Now that they were relaxed and full their attention was drifting away from the television and toward each other. Unlike their friends they didn't have a reunion to talk about as Kim's invitation was at Carri's and Tommy's mail still got forwarded from Reefside. Instead Kim curled up into Tommy and started by asking him how his day was.

"My day?" Tommy questioned as he looked down at her and she nodded. "I moved you. I did some research." He was declining to mention his work with Hayley. She had enough on her plate to have to worry about what he was doing. Besides at this point they didn't need anything they were working on making it irrelevant at the moment.

"Did you get a lot of research done?" Kim asked

"Yeah I was pretty productive." Tommy replied. "How about you? How was your day?"

"It was ok." Kim said trying to stall so she could remember the day she started so many months ago. The bad day that it was started flowing back. "There was the battle of course. I had my presentation."

"How did that go?" Tommy asked. After moving her he'd almost forgotten the big presentation Kim was supposed to give that afternoon at work.

Kim made a grunting noise. "Let's see, my coworker stole my ideas and presented them as his own." she started. She could see Tommy get angry and before he had a chance to say anything she continued. "But I told Ashley and she investigated. He got fired and I'm heading the campaign."

"I guess that's not too bad." Tommy said still wanting to rip the head off of the man who'd stole from Kim. "Sounds like you had an exciting day."

"Yeah." Kim replied letting her voice trail off. She stuck her hand in her pocket and brushed her fingers against the crystal Dulcea had given her. She was debating what she wanted to say to Tommy where her Muirantian powers were concerned. After much thought she decided to ease him into things so he wouldn't completely flip out on her. "I got some new powers."

"Oh?" Tommy questioned raising an eyebrow. "Anything big?"

"Not really." Kim replied with a shrug. At least they weren't big now since she'd been trained. "You saw how easily I levitated in battle. And I teleported myself across the room." Which wasn't a total lie. She was in a different spot in the room from when she teleported out to when she arrived back months later.

"Teleported?" Tommy questioned. He knew she'd get those kind of abilities as K had them, but he wasn't sure what to think of them. He wasn't sure what she thought about them. He had tried to talk to her about what was happening to her before but she had just brushed it off saying that until things manifested there wasn't anything to talk about. Now the serious powers were manifesting and it was time that they discussed them. "Are you ok with that power? Are you worried at all about these powers your getting?" He certainly was.

"Kind of. I mean if I need to I can always go to Dulcea, she can help me." She was speaking in future tense, figuring she could tell Tommy she went to Dulcea in a few months once he felt better about the serious powers forming. She could tell he was worried already by the thought of her teleporting.

"I just think... I mean what's happening to you, no other ranger has been through it. We don't know what you're going to be able to do." Tommy started. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her short. "I know K and her Jason have Muirantian powers but their situation was different than yours. Who knows how your powers will develop. I love you Kim and I worry about you."

Kim put a hand on his and smiled at him. "I know you worry because you don't know what's going on but there are people around who do. I've accepted what I'm to become and I'm not afraid." Anymore anyway, she added silently. In all honesty spending time on Phaedos has her somewhat excited about what kind of powers she'll be able to tap into in the future.

"It's hard." Tommy admitted looking over at her. "You have powers unheard of in the ranger community. You're not human anymore, not fully. And you're going to outlive us all by hundreds of years."

"I know." Kim replied, trying to hide the sorrow in her voice. "But it will be fine I promise you."

"I'm still going to worry about you, as a ranger and as your lover. You're starting to see hardcore abilities and I can't help but think of what could go wrong."

Kim leaned up and kissed Tommy on the lips. "Thank you for being concerned. But there's nothing major going on now and K assured me that I would learn to control all my Muirantian abilities with time. I know there are a lot of unknowns but we will get through them I promise."

Tommy took his hand and placed it on her cheek, gazing into her eyes. She seemed so certain that everything was alright. He couldn't be that certain but there wasn't much he could do, he'd have to see how things played out over time. He was madly in love with the woman sitting beside him and he'd continue to be concerned over what was going on inside her body. But as long as things seemed under control he would force himself to keep his worries at bay. At least he finally had a solid reason to share them with Kim and she knew how he felt.

As Tommy was gazing down at Kim, she lifted up her hand and put it on top of his. Gently she removed his hand from her cheek and placed it on her lips, giving it a kiss. "We'll talk about things as they develop." she promised kissing his hand again. "But for now let's not let Muirantias ruin our first night living together in your apartment."

Tommy curled his fingers around her hand and took his free arm to pull her body into his. "Deal." he said leaning back toward the couch, pulling her on top of him and firmly pressing her lips to his.

Kim released her hand from his and put both of her hands against his waist as they started kissing each other all over. She felt a tingling sensation down her body as he put his hands under her shirt and on her back, brining them higher until he was able to undo her bra. Suddenly Kim found herself with a flashback of her teleportation incident six months prior. She remembered finding herself in her college apartment, leaning over the counter and spying on her younger self on the couch with Tommy much like they were now. She couldn't help but smile as she thought about it. Some things never changed.


	16. Rising Conflict

**Disclaimer:** All known characters in the Power Rangers universe belong to Disney and Callisto belongs to Universal. The Nova Rangers belong to KSuzie. Everything else belongs to me.  
**Author's Notes:** Sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter out. Thank you all for being patient with me. As you'll notice it's quite a bit longer than usual, add that to my busy schedule and I just got a tad behind. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to get out. This chapter is called "Rising Conflict" and centers around conflicts involving the bad guys as well as everything going on with the rangers including some conflicts of their own. Enjoy the chapter and as always reviews are appreciated.

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Rising Conflict"

The crew of the Enzway sat on the bridge of the ship, beaten and bruised from their latest battle. It had been the same enemy only this time he had brought quite a few friends, one of which proved himself to be particularly difficult and draining. They had forced themselves to retreat to the ship, to regroup and refocus while healing themselves in order to defeat their enemy.

While they had been recuperating they had received some startling news, news that Elemi prayed was false. "Are you absolutely sure?" he questioned turning toward the male ranger who spoke to him

Xemmas nodded. "We're positive." he replied. He wished it weren't true.

"We mustn't waste any time. Set a course for Earth immediately." Elemi said taking a seat. This wasn't good news at all. And although the rumors had been there this was still unexpected.

The only thing he did know for sure was that it was important that he get to Kim and quickly. Her life would be at risk and she would need his help. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, not if there was anything he could do about it.

* * *

Kim pulled up behind the silver Eclipse and cut her engine off, climbing out her the car and going to lean against the drivers side of the one in front of her. "What you couldn't go in without me?"

The phone in the hand of the driver clicked shut and she looked up and smiled at her friend. "We always make a better entrance together." Carri joked, electing to not make Kim move as she jumped off of the drivers seat and over the door. Kim glanced at her and she smiled. "The advantages of having the top down."

Shrugging Kim walked beside Carri as they both took in the house that stood before them. It was located near the lake, not too terribly far from Carri's own place. But one look from the outside was all that was needed to know it was much larger.

"It's a bit big for one person." Carri commented aloud

"Maybe he's overcompensating." Kim joked. A glance in Carri's direction was all it took for the two women to break out in a fit of giggles. It was nice for Kim to let some stress out over her lunch break. She had been working hard on getting Ashley's campaign ready, and that particular morning had been one worthy of pulling her hair out over.

They composed themselves as Carri walked up and rang the bell. A few seconds later they were greeted. "Welcome to casa de Jason." he said as he opened up the door and gestured for his two friends to enter. He was happy that they'd agreed to come for lunch that day. They were the only two on the team so far who knew about his new house and he wanted them to see it. He had finally managed to move everything over from his old condo and it was as ready as it was going to be for now.

"Damn Jase." Carri said as she peaked around looking at the design of the house. It was gorgeous, it had a lot of potential. Currently Jason had only thrown stuff from his smaller condo into his bigger house and it showed. But Carri didn't blame him, he had a lot of money and she assumed that he'd eventually get the place looking hot, or at least "hire" herself and Kim to do it.

Kim's thoughts fell along the same line as Carri's as she looked around the house and smiled at Jason. "The house looks nice. It's great that your book is doing so well." she said sincerely before playfully rolling her eyes

Jason laughed. "Well there's much more to the house than the entranceway. Let me give you a tour."

The girls agreed and proceeded to follow him around room by room as he showed them around his new house. Eventually they came back around and finished in the kitchen. "So what did you think?" Jason asked as he opened the refrigerator

"Impressive." Carri replied and it was very much so. She wasn't surprised that Jason had settled on this home out of all the ones he toured as it was quite nice and stylish while managing to stay more masculine.

"Agreed." Kim said pausing for a moment. "This house has a lot of potential."

"That's what I thought." he said with a nod. "Now what do you want to drink? I've got beer, some soda..." his voice trailed off as he pushed around the fridge

"Soda's fine." Kim pipped up. God knows the last thing she would need would be to run into Sandy with alcohol on her breath. She certainly couldn't cry ranger to Ashley if she got in trouble for drinking during work hours.

Carri quickly agreed. "Soda for me too." The middle of the workday was not the time to be ingesting alcohol. Not that one beer would get her in trouble, after all she was the woman in charge. But there was still an example to be set for her employees.

"Fine. I'll be the only one having any fun." Jason replied handing each of the girls a soda before grabbing a beer for himself. "Come on the food is out on the patio."

"You cooked for us already?" Kim questioned surprisingly. She was expecting either a pizza or cold cuts strewn across the counter for them to make food themselves.

"You could say that." If he stretched it one could say he cooked. He was the one to call Bulk up and see if he'd fix some food and get someone to bring it over, so in a way he cooked through Bulk. He smiled at the girls as he slid back the patio door, revealing the huge screened in patio with the adjacent outside deck.

"A hot tub? Already? Have you been sneaking dates in there?" Carri questioned mischievously, kinda hoping the answer was yes. She turned away from the covered hot tub, which was at the end of the rather long deck, as she sat down in one of the chairs.

Jason shrugged. "The last resident's built it in with the deck. It came with the house."

"Must be nice." Kim said with a smile

"It is." Jason replied as they all started to uncover the food. "What about the two of you? How are your new living situations going?"

Kim shrugged. "It's only been two weeks." Of course the first two weeks had been blissful. Her second attempt at living with Tommy was starting out much more successful than her first. She hoped that they could keep on the same pace as it was amazing. "And they've been an adjustment and we made it and now we're doing fine."

A blush crept into Kim's cheeks as she got a dreamy look in her eyes. "I'd say it's been more than fine." Carri pointed out and Kim immediately pulled herself into reality

"What about you? Was Rocky's move in fine?" Kim questioned

"He just officially finished." Carri pointed out. The first weekend after they'd decided to move in together they'd put most of his stuff in storage. The previous weekend was spent moving the remainder of his things into the house, what little their was. Now he was busy getting his stuff in order and trying to find someone to take over his apartment. "So I'll let you know what happens. No worries though, it's not the first time we've lived together."

"How's production going?" Jason asked glancing over at his friend. She had started back on her show recently and was thrilled to get things moving again.

"Good. We're out filming at our first new location and working on picking out some other ones." Carri informed him. It was nice to finally be able to officially do some work on her show. "The crew should be on their way to their next location sometime in the next few days. Then we can start working on the first bit of footage." For one show they shot a few hours worth of on location footage. The most tedious part of the process was dwindling that footage down into forty minutes worth that would air in an hour time slot on tv.

"What about you? I can see work is going good," Kim started gesturing around the house, "but have you started on another book yet? You've got to keep this up somehow." she said smiling at him

"Not yet. I'm working on it." And waiting for the girls to divulge some more personal information he could sneak in. He was coming up with the action plot for the book and he was holding off on the romance. After all the best stuff for his last book had come shortly before his due date. "But don't worry about me keeping this house up, I have it taken care of. I have a lot of work I want to do to it, remodeling, redecorating, building a garage for the new motorcycle's I'm going to buy. I could afford to do it now but I'm going to wait until I'm a little more financially well off."

He paused and looked from one of the girls to the other. He hadn't told them about this part yet and he couldn't wait to get it out. They would be thrilled for him. He grinned before he spoke. "Soon I'm going to be coming into a lot of money. My agent is in the process of negotiating with several major production companies. He wants to sell the rights to my novel and give first priority to my other works including future novels. It will involve money up front and back ends... I'll be set for life." He had to admit he was a little sketchy about having an agent, but his publisher practically hadn't given him a choice with the ongoing smashing success of his last book. The agent worked for his publisher and now worked for him.

Carri took her hand and smashed it down on the table. "Jason Lee Scott." she said harshly, her eyes suddenly getting cold and hard

Jason was well aware of the side of Carri that for no apparent reason was coming through. He also knew he had to appease that side before she hauled off and killed him. "What? I thought you'd be happy for me."

"Happy?" she questioned the look in her eyes not faltering. "You have an agent out there searching for you a production company for your books. Let's not forget I own a production company. Have you not even considered asking Ausus to do it?"

Pausing for a second Jason let the realization of why she was angry set in. In all honesty he hadn't even considered Ausus, his agent had said there were big companies out there looking at his books and he hadn't given it a second thought. But in thinking about it there were reasons to go with a bigger company and he scrambled to try and make those look good for Carri. "Ausus is brand new and you've only done one television show. A half a season of that show to be precise. I thought it best to go with more experience. The book is my baby and I wanted to make sure it could be done the way I wanted."

Kim raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Jason. She didn't find his reasons superb and Carri wouldn't either. One glance back at her friend told her she was about to explode.

"First, who do you think is going to care about what you think more? A huge production company or me? Second although I own Ausus and it is a new production company, it's still a branch off of Hilltop. And my father would not let any project associated with any of his companies go out without meeting his standards of success. Which by the amount of profit Hilltop generates, you can tell where his standards are high. He'd assure that I had the necessary resources to make it a blockbuster." she paused and glared at him momentarily. "Third you have made a ton of money off of mine and Kim's love lives. It's only fair that you share in the wealth. I can see to it that Kim gets a cut of the movie money, unofficially of course." The last thing they would want would be nosey reporters wondering why a marketing executive of Ashley Hammond's was getting money from a movie based on Luke Kirk's book.

Jason thought about it for a moment. She was right, it was the best idea. And he would love to be able to share in something like this with his friends. "Ok. I'll sign the rights over to Ausus."

"Ok?" Carri repeated and Jason nodded. "Great I'll have our lawyers draw something up this afternoon and get it over to you." It was nice that her father had employed a rather large law firm that they could call upon at a moment's notice. It was what kept Jessica's law suit from ever reaching court.

"Sounds good. So can we go back to lunch without you killing me?" Jason questioned looking down at his food

"Please." Carri replied taking a small bite of lunch and swallowing it before grinning at him and continuing. "I wasn't going to kill you."

Jason and Kim exchanged amused glances as they all returned to their lunch.

* * *

Cratus stood in front of Callisto in the palace as he received his orders. "I will find and secure all the pieces for you." he promised her

"Good." Callisto replied. She had complete faith in him, he'd never let her down before and she had no reason to suspect he would this time. After all he had been the one who brought her this latest information, the information that was more than promising. "Let's not waste any more time here. Take off and let me know immediately if you find something."

"Of course." he said and with a slight bow he took off for his ship

The goddess had to admit to being more than a little excited. One of Cratus's leads was finally panning out. She didn't believe that the lead would take him directly to one of the crystal shards. But it would put him in the right direction and soon the pieces would be found, even if he had to all but destroy worlds to do it. Of course knowing him he would enjoy that.

She was well aware that the rangers would have nothing of that kind of activity going on in the galaxy. Which is why she knew she had to keep them distracted until Cratus returned successful. She didn't need them sniffing around in her business and she certainly didn't need them jetting off to help people in need of protection from her forces.

"Was that Cratus leaving again?" Rhianna questioned as she walked into the main room and approached Callisto

"Yes. He's quite close to finding a solution to our ranger problem." Callisto told her as she looked the young sorceress over.

"What does that mean?" Rhianna asked. She was well aware of the fact that Callisto had been working on something major, something that would give them enough power to defeat the rangers and grant Rhianna control of the planet. The exact details Callisto had been fuzzy on. Goldar warned her not to trust the goddess's plans, but Rhianna was inclined to disagree. Callisto had given her a lot of solid advice and had yet to lead her wrong. She had to wonder if Goldar's discomforts stemmed from the fact that Callisto didn't like him at all.

"It means we need to keep the rangers distracted so he can do his work." Callisto replied as an idea came to her. "And I was thinking we'd start with a few monsters."

As she finished speaking much to their surprise two figures materialized in front of them. Rhianna clutched her staff tightly and turned toward the two intruders. "Who are you and what are you doing in my castle?" she questioned glancing back at Callisto. If there was going to be a fight she would need her help. She was learning a lot but she wasn't sure how she would fare against the strong warrior standing in front of her. To her surprise Callisto's eyes showed recognition of the figures standing in front of them.

"Jakar." she said looking him over. They had encountered each other several times before. He was quite the tyrant across the galaxy and one look at him was enough for someone to tell why. He was well over seven feet tall with a huge muscular frame that bulged out of the cloth that surrounded it. His pasty white skin and red hair lessened his appearance, but not enough that one wouldn't be frightened of him. Although scarred from battle it was evident that his body structure was similar to that of a human as his race. "And Fessus." she continued glancing over to the lizard like creature standing beside him. He was much smaller in comparison to Jakar and had fighting skills comparable to those of Rito. Some wondered why a being such as Jakar would make Fessus his right hand man, but rumor was he was more than obedient and that was enough for him to keep Fessus around. "What are you doing here?" she finished. Last she heard they were off causing trouble and being followed by the Nova Rangers.

"Following a galactic rumor." Jakar said as he gave her somewhat of a smile. He didn't want to be here talking to her but if he was going to go down to Earth it was a necessity. There were few beings in the galaxy that one simply did not cross and an Olympian goddess was one of them.

"A galactic rumor?" Callisto repeated raising an eyebrow. This could certainly get rather interesting rather quickly. "A man of your stature would know better than to fall prey to galactic rumors."

"Oh but this one is good enough for me to personally look into." he assured her. She didn't reply, only gave him a look encouraging him to continue quickly before she lost her patience. "It has been said that the Red Planetary Ranger now possesses Muirantian powers. I wanted to see firsthand if there is any truth to that." If the rumors were true and if she was on her way to fulling coming into her powers, that could mean trouble for him. A Planetary Ranger was already very powerful on their own, as well as a being who had any sort of powers from the Muirantian pit. Combine the two and you would have more than just a formidable opponent. It was no secret that the Red Planetary Ranger and Red Nova Rangers were friends. If the rumor's were true he wanted to destroy her before the two teams could gang up and come after him, meddling in his plans and at worst killing him.

"I see." Callisto replied. She hadn't realized that word of Kim's new powers were spreading throughout the galaxy but it was nice to know. "And this concerns you how?"

He looked at her, wondering if she was seriously asking the question or if she was just annoyed by his presence in front of her. He had a feeling it was the latter but still he stood strong and folded his arms across his chest, answering her question. "It concerns us all. I don't think I have to tell you the ramifications if a Phaedosian Warrior who is also the Red Planetary ranger now has Muirantian powers."

He was right but Callisto wasn't worried. After all it would take decades if not centuries for her to fully embrace all her powers giving the evil community plenty of time to worry about it. But Jakar was here and she needed distractions, and as far as distractions went he would certainly be a good one. "You're in luck. We were planning on attacking later, you're welcome to join." Best case scenario, he kills the pink ranger and she doesn't have to worry about it. Of course him losing might be in her favor as well. He'd report to the intergalactic community that she was powerful and they'd leave Kim alone for the time being, allowing Callisto to continue her work.

"Excellent. Fessus and I will go down to Earth's surface with you." Jakar replied. He would get his chance to test the ranger's ability.

"Then it is settled." Callisto replied turning toward Rhianna who still had the staff gripped tightly in her hands. "Why don't you make a few monsters to join them. Then we'll have monsters and Cirranadrones available to distract the other rangers while Jakar faces Kim."

Jakar glanced over at her. He wasn't sure why she was so eager to help. He didn't think it was because she was a firm believer in his cause. But whatever her motives he wouldn't be concerned, as long as she didn't try and stab him in the back.

"Of course." Rhianna replied smiling at Callisto as she went off to make her monsters. She was still unsure about the two visitors standing in front of her. She wasn't sure if Callisto trusted them. She didn't trust them and this was her palace. But she wasn't going to force the issue. Besides they needed to distract the rangers and he should be a good choice to keep them from paying attention to anything intergalactically for the time being.

* * *

Carri sat with Jason on his patio, lunch long since over. Kim had returned to work in a hurry in an attempt not to be late and get reprimanded by Sandy. Carri had elected to stay a while longer, the only thing on her agenda being a meeting scheduled for later that afternoon. Her choices had been to relax at Jason's or go back and cross her eyes sifting through the emails her father had sent her and the papers on her desk. They were certainly tasks that needed to be done, but not ones that required her immediate attention.

"So," Carri started glancing once again over at the hot tub, "when are you actually going to get a woman in there?" She and Kim had been trying to find a way to probe him about his love life or lack there of. She figured she might as well ask.

"Since when do you care about how often I date? I thought you wanted me to slow down and find someone." Jason was quick to point out

"You haven't dated anyone since Michelle and it has almost been two months. That's not like you." Carri paused then looked at him. "I know you and Michelle had something good going on but you yourself said that it wouldn't work, that she couldn't accept your other duties. And now it's time to move on."

Jason gave her a small smile. She was concerned and it was sweet. Usually he would be the one back on the dating circuit. But he'd spent the last two weeks driving by Emily's work on the way home and the weeks before that thinking about her. She was constantly on his mind and for that reason he wasn't looking for another relationship. But he couldn't tell Carri, after what happened the last time they dated she'd kill him for even harboring friendly thoughts toward her. "I will when I'm ready."

"You need to be ready. It's time to be ready." Carri said glancing sternly at him. "I have an idea." she said as though it was the first time the thought had crossed her mind. "I know this actress and you'd like. Maybe you can take her out on a date."

"I don't know Car..." Jason let his voice trail off

"She's beautiful and talented and I'm not asking you to marry her, just use her to get your feet wet. And you can say you went on a date with her, something most guys would love to brag about." She knew Jason would find the woman in question sexy as most men did. Although she wasn't sure the actress was long term dating material, she would be great for one or two outings with Jason. It would certainly get his spirits back up.

"Fine." Jason agreed, more to keep her off his back than anything. He wasn't sure how it would go, but one date with an actress wouldn't kill him.

"You won't be disappointed, I promise." she assured him

"I trust you." Jason replied as he finished the last of his bottle of beer. "I'm going for a refill. You want anything?"

"I'll take another soda." Carri said as Jason stood and headed back into the house. Carri stood and stretched before following him in order to snatch her cell phone to see if she missed anything. She saw it sitting on the end table and picked it up, absentmindedly flopping herself down on the couch to check her messages.

Much to her surprise, as she sat the television came to life in front of her. She stood up and grabbed the remote, preparing to turn it off as the words "Breaking News Story" flashed across the screen. Carri sat back down and snapped her phone shut, saving her messages for later as her curiosity got to her.

The screen faded to the on scene reporter as the woman spoke. "I'm Vanessa Ladue, reporting live from Russo's Diner, a small hamburger restaurant here in town. This restaurant is the scene of a hostage situation, where earlier two gunman stormed in. The police have not yet stated what their demands are, but we've been told by a source that if they aren't met they will start executing hostages."

"Meaning a cop heard something and spilled." Carri said to herself, recalling her own days as a reporter. Jason walked in and Carri briefly glanced up at him before turning back to the tv.

"There are approximately twenty hostages, including the wife of the man behind me, a man who was fortunate enough to escape and call the police." The camera panned out and Vanessa gestured for the man to step forward. "Could you state your name for our audience?"

"Chris Black." he said and has he spoke Carri's hands curled into fists so tightly that her knuckles were turning white

"And you were in the restaurant when the gunmen entered?" she asked

"Yes. My wife and I had gone for lunch. The two gunmen entered and I was close to the door. I slipped out before they could lock the place down." he replied

"And why did you take off and leave your wife in the restaurant?" Vanessa questioned. It was odd to her but she was curious to see his answer.

"I just thought that the only way for both of us to survive was to get some help. I got out and called the cops." Chris replied. In truth he panicked and ran, not thinking about how Kat was moving too slowly to follow him until it was too late. But there was no way he'd ever admit that. "Now that the police are here I keep praying that they will resolve this and my wife will walk through those doors unharmed." He would never forgive himself if something happened to his wife and unborn child.

"Thank you." Vanessa said turning her full attention back to the camera. "We'll keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds. Reporting live from Russo's Diner, I'm Vanessa Ladue."

Carri turned off the television and threw the remote across the couch. "That son of a bitch!" she exclaimed

The angered Carri he had seen earlier was meek compared to the one sitting before him now. She was more than revved up and ready to do some serious damage. "He's an asshole but we all knew that. I'm sure Kat will be fine. She's a former ranger and the police are there." he said trying to calm her before she did something stupid

"She's a former ranger who looks like she could pop any day now." Her cousin's due date was only a few weeks away and she had gotten rather large. There was no way that she could defend herself in that condition. Any man worth anything would never leave his wife like that, especially considering he had no clue that she would even have the potential to defend herself.

"There's not much we can do. It's not like this is a matter that the rangers can step in on. We'll have to stay put and see how this plays out." Jason tried to encourage her not to do anything stupid

Carri looked at him and rolled her eyes. She was well aware that rangers couldn't interfere with human criminals, despite the fact that she found some of them more despicable than any of the villain's they'd ever faced. Besides it wasn't really the gunmen's ass's that she felt the rangers needed to kick, it was that slimy, bastard husband of her cousin's. She stood up and grabbed her keys off the counter and headed for Jason's front door.

"Carri! Carri what are you doing?" Jason questioned as he heard the front door slam. "Dammit." he said harshly. He had a feeling she was planning on unleashing her anger on Chris and that was not going to be pretty. He could hear her car start up and start to pull out of the driveway. Grunting and swearing to himself he grabbed his keys and tore off after her.

* * *

Carri pulled her car as close as she could get to Russo's Diner, which put her behind the cars of the onlookers and the media. She jumped out of the car and moved past those who were trying to get a peek at the action before pushing her way through the media who were all waiting for the next scoop to come out of the situation. She was so focused that she didn't even notice the whispers of the people who knew her, the ones wondering what in the world was a former local news reporter and current television show hostess doing at a hostage situation.

Instead she marched right up to the police tape, ignoring the officers who told her that she couldn't proceed any further. She had no intention of crossing their barriers, she was merely looking for the man that was guilt ridden and peering over them. Spotting her target, she grabbed his arm and forcefully spun him around so that he was facing her. For years she had kept her mouth shut as much as she could where Chris was concerned. Kat knew how she felt and she steered away from the man for Kat's sake. But now she couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. She was going to give him a piece of her mind.

"You asshole." she growled glaring him down, ignoring the surprised look on his face. "I cannot believe that you would stoop that low. To leave your very pregnant wife in the restaurant with two gunman? How could you?"

"I was going to call the cops." Chris repeated his lame excuse to her. He wasn't sure what Kat's cousin was doing here, he wasn't even sure that the girls were completely getting along. She must've seen the story on the news.

"That's bullshit and we both know it." she said. She didn't think it would be possible to loathe the man even more but at that moment she despised him more than she did Callisto. It took every ounce of her will power not to pummel him right there. "You're chicken shit, you saw those gunmen and you froze. You ran off like a little pansy because you don't have the balls to stay and protect your wife."

"You don't know the situation. You don't know what was going on in there. I had to leave Kat behind. I came out here to save her." Chris tried lamely to defend himself

Carri was more than tired of hearing his crappy excuses and more than a little angry with him. The idea that he was trying to save her was enough to push her over as she swung her fist back. Much to her surprise someone grabbed a hold of her arm.

Quickly Jason took her arm and moved in between Carri and Chris. It had taken him way to long to push up to the front of the crowd and he couldn't believe that Carri had managed to do it so quickly. He almost didn't make it in time to keep her from doing something stupid in front of all the cameras. "Carri I know how you feel but you don't want to hit him."

"Oh trust me Jason I very much want to hit him." she growled. Part of her was angry that he stepped in her way while the other part was relieved. He was right, to punch him with everyone watching wasn't a good idea. Besides regardless of how angry she was when she left it hadn't been her intention to hit him. But the more he opened his mouth the more she felt inclined to do so.

"I've always said since college that he was a loser and not good enough for Kat. Then for him to go off and leave his pregnant wife - my cousin - in a restaurant with two gunmen where her life and the life of her unborn child lay in the hands of hostage negotiator." she ended with her voice in a warning tone as she tried to glare past Jason to Chris. "And despite mine and Kat's differences over the years she's still family and I do love her, and I would never leave her like that."

"I don't know why you hate me so much I've been nothing but good to Kat." he said pausing only because Carri's snort momentarily interrupted his train of thought. "I don't know why you think otherwise. She's my wife and I love her more than anything and I'd die if anything happened to her."

"Why would I think otherwise?" Carri questioned, eyebrow raised. She was more than prepared to give her the answer to that question.

"Come on Carri let's just go." Jason said putting his hands on her shoulders and pushing her backwards. She was reluctant at first but then she started to walk backwards, all the while glaring at Chris. Jason was relieved, he knew she had a whole list of things to spew out that would only make the situation worse.

"That's right, listen to your friend. I'd hate for you to start a fight only to lose to me in front of all these people." Chris said, gaining confidence now that Carri was being pushed away. There were all those people watching and he felt like he had to come out on top and that he couldn't be pushed around by her.

"Son of a bitch." Carri muttered across her breath

"Ignore him." Jason said as he pushed her back a little harder. She continued to walk as he pushed even though she was slowing her pace to see if he had anything else to add.

"And for the record, I've always known that you don't like me." Chris continued on as she continued to be pushed back. Now that she was moving a safe distance away he felt confident enough to say the things he'd said before to Kat in private. He had to admit that he was afraid of being on the wrong end of her temper which is why he'd always kept his mouth shut. But now that she was airing out her grievances he was certainly going to give her his opinion. Especially since she was too far away to touch him. "I've always thought it was jealousy. Kat has the perfect life with me. We have the house, the strong relationship, we're starting a family... and you? Well all you have is your lame relationship, worthless friends and your own mother doesn't even like you."

If Carri wasn't over the edge before, she was now. "How dare you." she spat as she surprised Jason by maneuvering away from him and charging straight toward Chris. She was going to kill him. Chris's eyes grew wide as she ran toward him. He thought for sure Jason was holding her a safe distance back but now he could see he was sadly mistaken.

Acting quickly, Jason turned and followed her. She jumped in the air to hit Chris and Jason jumped and grabbed her, their weight pulling them to the ground. He kept her pinned on the pavement for a moment while the cameras rolled and the light bulbs flashed around them. He was hoping she'd calm down before he let her up. "Trust me," he started waiting for her to stop and give him her attention before he continued, "I want to hit the bastard too but we can't."

Carri glared at Jason for a moment. Chris was certainly lucky that her friend had the sense to chase after her, otherwise not only would he have been the douche that left his wife in a potentially deadly situation, but he would've also been the guy who got hospitalized by a girl. She took a few deep breaths and just when she thought she was ready to walk away from Chris, their communicators went off. "Well I did want to pound something." she muttered

Somewhat relieved to hear their communicators, Jason begin pulling her to her feet. As he did they heard the city wide monster alarms going off. Chaos erupted in the streets as people started to flee to safety, all the while trying to figure out where the monsters had deposited themselves. Fortunately for Jason and Carri the chaos was what they needed to successfully slip off and teleport out without being noticed.

* * *

"What the hell?" Jason questioned. He and Carri were the last two to arrive and were now staring at the vast array of creatures standing in front of them. With the exception of one or two of the bad guys it was quite the impressive army.

"They're pulling out all the stops." Tommy said, eyeing the particularly tough looking creature standing in the front. He had been hoping this was going to be an easy monster crushing so he could get back to work but it was obvious that wasn't going to be the case. Tommy called for his weapons as the other rangers did the same. Besides the one overshadowing all the others in the front there were five more creatures. Four looked like decent monsters while the scrawny lizard like character didn't strike him as much of a threat at all. As much as he didn't want to say it he didn't see many options for taking them all on. "Let's split up, take them out fast." he said looking around at the others who nodded. "I'll start with this one." he said as he rushed toward the man standing up front

As he leaped to attack him Jakar pulled out an ancient two sided axe and reared it back, putting all of his brute strength into one blow against the white ranger. "I don't think so." Jakar said as his axe made contact. Tommy stood no chance as he flew through the air and tumbled down onto the ground. "I have plenty of friends for you to lose to. I'm here to kill the pink ranger."

Kim stepped forward and stood strong. She was momentarily torn between the urge to help her boyfriend and the urge to take over as the leader. But seeing Tommy stirring on the ground gave her the quick realization that he would be fine and she needed to take over as she was the one being challenged by the biggest bully on the battlefield. "You want me, you got me." she said as she went to engage him in battle

The other rangers stepped back to help Tommy up while doing a quick survey of what was left. Rocky looked at one monster in particular before looking back at his girlfriend. "Is that Billy the Marlin?" he asked wondering why Rhianna would pick a baseball team's mascot as a monster

"I think so." she said with a shrug. "Right idea, wrong team. Doesn't matter though, they're still our competition, I'll kick his ass." she replied rushing off to face her chosen monster, leaving the boys with three more to choose from

The lizard creature was standing next to an iguana monster with knives for fingers. Tommy looked at the duo. Feeling the urge to redeem himself as this teams leader, he decided he would have a go at them. "I'll take the reptiles." he said before quickly charging into battle

That left Rocky and Jason with their choice between a creature that looked like a giant banana with octopus arms and what appeared to be an armored elephant. "Elephant or banana?" Rocky asked not really thrilled with being left with either choice

Jason cocked his head and looked at them both. "Banana." he said rushing into battle. He was looking forward to the challenge as between keeping up with Carri and resisting his own urges to pound Chris, he needed something to funnel his frustrations into.

"Great. Then I'll take the elephant." Rocky said with a sigh not really looking forward to a one on one battle with an armored elephant. As he ran to attack with his sword he quickly realized that it was not going to be a one on one fight. The Cirranadrones were spreading out and joining the monsters in an effort to destroy the rangers. With a quick glance it was evident that all of his friends were beginning on a more epic battle than any of them wanted to see. All except for Kim.

Rocky wasn't the only one who took notice of the Cirranadrones actions. Kim was quick to realize that she and the creature in front of her were being left alone. "You wanted some one on one time with the pink ranger?" Kim questioned as she did a few backflips to keep from being on the wrong end of the swinging axe

"I wanted to battle and kill in hand to hand combat the Red Planetary ranger with Muirantian abilities." Jakar replied. He was hoping to coax her into a display of her powers so that he could see if she had them or not.

"If you know who I am then you have greatly underestimated me." Kim replied as he approached her, axe in hand. He swung again and she jumped. Jakar looked around as she hovered high above him. He didn't see her until the arrows hit him head on, knocking him backwards.

Angered he stood. He was now fearing that he had indeed underestimated the extent of her abilities. He looked up to the skies and she was no longer hovering above him. Cursing he turned around quickly noting that she was nowhere to be found.

"Not only have you underestimated me but you forgot my favorite part." Kim called from behind him, barely giving him a chance to spin around. He briefly got a glimpse of the Phaedosian staff the pink ranger held before she used it to channel an energy burst, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying. "The part where I'm a Phaedosian Master Warrior." she added as he stood up, anger flaring. Kim made her Phaedosian staff disappear and reached for her ranger weapons as they glared at each other.

Jakar had seen enough. He lifted his right arm high into the air and pounded it fiercely to the ground, violently shaking the Earth beneath Kim's feet and causing her to topple over. She was developing her powers nicely and he had to put a stop to it before it could continue any further. Who knew what abilities she had already, ones that he was not in the mood to find out. Before she could pull herself to her feet Jakar leaped on top of Kim and started throwing punches.

Tommy felt the earlier vibrations of the ground and turned just in time to see Kim go down and get attacked. He wanted desperately to go help her but he couldn't risk walking away from Fessus and Chef Iguantix. Their forces were spread thin enough as it was, he couldn't add these two and their Cirranadrones to anyone's plate. He took a quick glance around to check on the rest of his team as for the moment that was all he could do for any of them. For the most part the others were exchanging blows with the monsters. Some of the monsters were more powerful than others and the battles were at best even. He turned his attention back to his own battle where Chef Iguantix came at him with his finger knives poised and ready. He hardened himself and got ready to fight. They needed to figure something out and fast or this would not end well for any of them.

* * *

Billy stood in the Command Chamber anxiously watching the fight on the screen. He desperately wanted to help his friends but he didn't know how. He didn't have any power upgrades he was working on, there hadn't been any indication that they would need them. Besides their powers were fine, it was just the overwhelming number of monsters that was the trouble.

Although Billy was quite happy working in the Command Chamber, it was times like these that made him regret the incident which stripped him of the ability to morph. At the time it was a good idea. He was going to use his devise to bring the rangers up to their proper ages. They were going to be able to defend a helpless planet against the attacks of Rita, Zedd and Master Vile. Fortunately for the others he had been the only ranger able to test the machine. He preformed the first test on himself and the results had been better than expected.

It was the long term consequences that he hadn't accounted for. It was almost a year later when his body started rapidly aging itself and he had to be whisked away to Aquatar for treatment before he died. That wasn't even the first side effect he encountered. Shortly after time was restored he came to the harsh realization that aging himself had altered his DNA enough that he wouldn't be able to bond with another morpher or another grid without altering him to the point where his survival would be more than a little questionable. Fortunately he was still able to accept his Ninjetti powers as they weren't bonded to morphers and grids, and they gave him some comfort that he could still fight. Of course in situations like the one his friends found themselves in those Ninjetti powers did no good. Some battles they could be used in but they were not meant for fights against opponents with serious firepower.

What the rangers could use was an extra ranger, the blue ranger that belonged on that team. That was something that Billy couldn't give them. There was no blue coin and no blue ranger, there hadn't been for years. Instead the rangers stood facing incredible odds against some creatures that even as a team they would struggle against. He didn't know what to do for him and he felt helpless sitting in the safety of the Command Chamber. His mind whirled with possible solutions, none of them feasible.

He wanted to contact Mack, the Red Overdrive Ranger, to see if his team could lend a hand. They were the only other active team with powers in hand, together and ready to fight. The problem was that they were the active team and he wasn't sure they could afford to walk away from their battles at the moment to help another team of rangers. He would certainly try and get a message to them, but he wasn't expecting a positive response. The next solution he thought of was more advanced weaponry. It would have to be something powerful, something that the rangers could use individually to take out a monster. That sort of thing usually took time to create and perfect, and time was something that wasn't on their side. It didn't matter as Billy had to do something and that was the best thing he could think of.

As he went to leave to try and scramble ideas together he heard teleportation sounds from behind him. Spinning around he was more than a little surprised to see the Nova Rangers standing there. It was as if someone had listened to his thoughts and deposited a solution. "What are you doing here?" the confusion in his voice shone through however Elemi couldn't miss the pleasant look he had on his face

"Jakar, the enemy we have been fighting for so long, took off for Earth. We have sped here as quickly as possible to try and assist you before he could do any damage." Elemi said praying that they weren't too late

"Is that him?" Billy asked pointing to the viewing screen behind the rangers

The Nova's looked in time to see Kim take a harsh tumble at the hands of Jakar. Elemi could feel his anger rising. It was bad enough for Jakar to reek havoc on his team but to come to Earth to attack the woman he cared most about, the woman that changed his life, it was more than unacceptable. "Yes that's him." Elemi replied as he watched the rangers, tired and beaten, try to regroup

"Should we go help them?" Pryce asked. After all that was the entire reason that they'd made the trip to Earth, to assist the rangers in their fight against Jakar

Elemi held a hand up as a way to order his ranger to dismiss the thought for a moment. The rangers were disappearing from the screen and the sounds of their teleportation beams filled in behind him. "Kim are you alright?" he asked stepping forward to speak with her

"Yes." she replied her head tilting to the side as she looked at him curiously. "Not that I don't enjoy your visits, but what are you doing here?"

"That's a good question." Tommy added more to himself than anything as he stepped up and stood by his girlfriend. Not that he wasn't excited to see another team of rangers that they could use as reinforcements, but that other team was led by Elemi, the man who had a romantic interest in his girlfriend.

"Jakar, the creature you were fighting, we've been chasing through the galaxy." Elemi explained. "We heard he was coming after you and we rushed here as fast as we could. If Jakar and Callisto combined forces, I knew you'd need our help."

"Thank you." Kim said, the thought occurring to her that she should've realized the man she was fighting was Jakar. He fit Elemi's previous descriptions to the tee. He was an intergalactic nuisance, someone high on the priority list of villains that needed to be taken out. "We welcome the help. As I'm sure you saw we desperately need it."

"We have twelve rangers now. We should return before Jakar is able to do any damage to your planet." Garan suggested

Elemi nodded. "Agreed." he paused thinking for a moment. "Kimberly perhaps you should return with full force. Jakar wants to fight you, the best way to send him away is make sure he knows you're better than him."

"Full force?" Kim questioned raising an eyebrow as Elemi nodded. "You mean as a red." she replied as the red Nova ranger gave her a smile. "Actually that might not be a bad idea. For both of us." Kim suggested turning back to Carri. They were going to need as much fire power as they could get to make the monsters disappear quickly.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it." Carri said as she stepped up and stood beside Kim. The two girls morphed into their planetary forms and teleported down to the surface, quickly followed by the remainder of their team and a full set of Nova Rangers.

Kim rushed back to Jakar, hitting him full force while the remainder of the rangers prepared to attack their previous monsters. Elemi quickly handed out orders to his team before jumping into the fight himself. He sent Garan and Jaxan off with Tommy, who was a little upset that Elemi thought that the leader of this team of rangers needed two pairs of hands when he sent only one ranger each to join Rocky and Jason. His logic was Tommy's battle was greater and he'd be grateful to have more help than the others. He had also sent two rangers to assist the White Planetary Ranger, Pryce and Kee.

Pryce was sent to provide serious assistance and Kee, well Kee had only been a ranger for a little over a year and she was still learning. He thought it helpful for her to fight alongside another female. He was still unsure on his feelings of female rangers, even though Kim had proven them more than worthy. Even Carri had shown ranger skill comparable to that of his male teammates. But to have a female on his team, especially a novice, was still sometimes hard to swallow.

It was Kim's idea and he respected her a great deal. Kim spent a lot of time on the Enzway during battles trying to work together as reds to prepare. She had met a lot of the crew and had taken a liking to Kee. At one point another ranger team pointed out that it was too bad that the Nova's weren't at full strength. It was then that Kim was filled in on the pink Nova powers, powers that had never been used. It was unheard of to have a male pink ranger and it was unthinkable to have a female ranger. After what he'd been through so far with Kim, when she said that it was time to select a female to take those powers he allowed her to do so, assuming that any female she picked would have the potential to become a fine ranger.

After all the missions they'd been on Kee was coming along quite nicely. She was by far no Kim and Elemi had even expressed those concerns with Kim during one of their conversations about other galactic matters. Kim had assured him that it took her ten years to become the woman that stood in front of him on the battlefield when they fought Callisto and Rhianna. Elemi thought she needed more training, however most of the male rangers were reluctant to take her under their wing. It was nice that for this battle he could send her to fight alongside Carri as she respected both her and Kim a great deal and would hopefully learn something from fighting with her.

Once he had delegated fights out to everyone, he went to assist Kim. Kim had her flaming sword and was attacking him fiercely, pushing him back. He blocked most of her moves with his axe, before reaching around to the back of his pants and pulling out a small knife. It was hidden from view and Kim wouldn't have noticed it unless she'd been looking for it, but Jakar had pulled it out on Elemi numerous times. As Jakar went to strike Kim with it, Elemi ran forward sticking his sword between Kim's uniform and the knife. "I will not let you reek havoc on Earth." Elemi said as with all of his strength he pushed the knife back.

With Jakar distracted Kim kicked him in the stomach sending him stumbling backwards. Jakar stood and looked at the duo of red rangers, pausing on the Nova. "I thought I left you for dead."

"You will never defeat us." Elemi said as he and Kim stood weapons in hand waiting for Jakar to make his next move

"Oh I will. Later. But for now I'm going to kill a different sort of red ranger." Jakar said going to throw Elemi out of the way. Unlike Tommy, Elemi knew of Jakar's attacks and knew what to be prepared for. He stood his ground as he rushed at him and the fight started. With Elemi standing strong Kim went to join him as both of them fought against Jakar.

With the extra rangers the scenes around the battlefield were looking much better than they had moments before. Carri, Pryce and Kee were able to combine the power of their weapons for one final blast, with Carri causing lighting to flash down from the sky for extra firepower. Billy the Marlin fell to the ground defeated and Carri twirled her lance around with a smile. "Bring on the mascots. I'll take 'em all down."

"Now what?" Kee asked, unsure of where to go from there. She was learning everything about being a ranger. Her instincts were developing and she was quite pleased with herself. However usually when a monster was defeated she turned to Elemi or another senior male on the team for what direction to go next. This time she was turning toward a female senior ranger for advice and she found it rather pleasant.

"Well let's see." Carri paused and put one end of her lance on the ground and leaning against it before taking a glance around the battlefield. Tommy, Garan and Jaxan seemed to be at the end of their battle. The lizard like creature wasn't the strongest in battle and was slithering away, teleporting off when he was out of view. They appeared to be moments away from taking down the monster with the knives. Aaron and Xemmas were doing well assisting Jason and Rocky, and it looked like one hand would be enough for the final push. "Why don't we go play with the elephant." Carri suggested looking over at Kee who nodded. "And maybe Pryce can help out with octo-nana." she went on not really knowing what to call Jason's monster

"Of course." Pryce said as he rushed off into battle, Kee and Carri taking off right behind him

A few moments later Xemmas approached to help with the elephant monster and Aaron joined the fight against the octopus banana combination. They had more than enough rangers to easily bring the two monsters down. Once the fight was complete the rangers rushed to the final battle, where Kim and Elemi were still fighting against Jakar and had now been joined by Tommy.

The three of them were so intensely involved in their fight that they hadn't noticed the group of rangers that came up behind them. "Should we jump into battle?" Garan asked ready to help his leader

"I'll get their attention." Carri replied as a bolt of lightning flew through the sky, hitting Jakar and sending him backwards. Suddenly all eyes were on them.

"If you're going to fight Kim you're going to have to fight all thirteen of us." Jason warned. He didn't appreciate this creature coming to pick on one of his little sisters. He almost hoped he'd try and take them all on, he'd love to get his shot at him.

Jakar looked around the battlefield as he stood. It was empty, the monsters and Cirranadrones defeated, and even Fessus had slithered back in defeat. He had no interest in taking on two teams of rangers. He had found out what he came to, that Kim was indeed in possession of Muirantian powers and that she was learning how to use them. She needed to be destroyed and quickly but now was turning out not to be the time or place thanks to the interference of the Nova team. "Until we meet again rangers." Jakar said as with a wave of his hand he teleported himself back to his ship

"We should get back." Tommy said once the scene was secured. He was more than ready to thank the Nova Rangers and send them on their way.

Before they had a chance to teleport the ground beneath them started shaking. "What's going on?" asked Aaron

"I don't know but this is never good." Rocky replied as the rangers tried to steady themselves. The ground started shaking and he looked up, staring at the giant versions of the monsters they'd defeated moments ago. "They couldn't leave well enough alone."

"I really hate Callisto." Carri muttered as Kim ran over to her

"Time to switch back. It's morphin time!" Kim called and as the two girls brought their power coins out they automatically powered down as Planetary Rangers and powered back up into their normal ranger attire

"Are you going to be of any help to us in this battle?" Tommy asked glancing at the Nova Rangers, wondering if they had zords of their own

"But of course." Elemi replied. He contacted his ship which immediately sent down seven ranger colored motorcycles.

"That's it?" Tommy asked in disbelief. However he did find himself somewhat pleased that their zords were much more complex. All the Nova's could do would be run over their toes.

"Not quite." Elemi said as the rangers went into formation

The others looked on with amazement as the motorcycles transformed into body armor before transforming into smaller zords which combined and grew to the size of a full zord. "How do we get us some of those?" Jason asked, envious of what the Nova's zords were doing. As the zord started to fight he could tell that their megazord was much lighter and moved more fluidly than any megazord he'd ever been a part of. If it proved to be as strong as their megazord he was ready to sign their team up for a set.

"If we don't get our zords we won't be around long enough for you to try and get an answer to that." Tommy said gruffly, upset with the Novas for having more advanced zord technology than they did. Quickly he called for their own set of zords and they joined the battle.

The two zords found the battle against the four monsters more intense than usual but not more difficult. Between the two zords they were able to take down the four monsters for good, finally clearing the battlefield and heading back to the Command Chamber.

* * *

"Thank you very much for your help." Kim said, grateful that an old friend had come to bail them out once again

"Anytime you need our assistance don't hesitate to ask and we'll be there." Elemi promised

"I won't." Kim replied smiling at him. Although she hadn't asked for his assistance this time she was glad that he came anyway. Elemi extended his hand which Kim took, shaking briefly before Elemi brought her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss.

Kim pulled her hand back quickly when Tommy approached, putting his arm around her. "We should let them go. Jakar is still out there, we don't want them to waste any time here." Despite the fact that Kim assured him that she had no intention of returning Elemi's affections, he wanted to make sure the other ranger knew exactly whose girlfriend Kim was.

"Of course." Elemi said glancing briefly at Tommy. He hadn't realized that this teams leader had an interested in Kim as well. He respected that, but that didn't change how he felt about Kim and he certainly wasn't going to stop giving her affections because of it. They weren't married and that meant she was tied to noone. He smiled over at Kim. They did have to get going but he did have something serious he need to speak with her about first. "Can I talk to you for a moment? In private?"

"Yes." Kim said as she slipped out from under Tommy's arm and walked off with Elemi, ducking briefly into the infirmary. Kim didn't notice as the rest of her team went to stand by her boyfriend to keep him from unleashing his anger. He didn't care if they were both reds, anything that he had to say regarding ranger related issues could be said in front of all of them.

Kim waited until the door slid closed behind them before she spoke. "What's going on?"

"Is it true?" Elemi asked looking down into her eyes

"Is what true?" Kim replied completely confused by what he was trying to get from her

"That you have Muirantian powers." Elemi had heard the same rumors that brought Jakar to Earth. He couldn't imagine that Kim would've gone through something like this and not told him personally during one of their discussions on intergalactic matters. If the red planetary ranger had these powers it could only be a plus on the side of good.

"Yes. Why?" Kim questioned wondering how in the world he knew

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." he said, genuinely upset

"I'm not telling anyone yet. It's not a big deal at the moment, they're not fully developed." Kim protested. She was surprised that it upset him so much to hear it from a third party. She was even more surprised that he'd heard it from a third party to begin with. "How did you find out."

"Your powers are a big deal, that's how I found out." Elemi told her looking sternly at her. He was worried for her. She was a strong ranger but he wasn't sure if she completely understood the ramifications of what happened to her.

"Elemi, I"

"Kim this is important." Elemi cut her off before she could protest. "You are the Red Planetary Ranger, for you to have Muirantian powers, developed or not, that makes you a threat. It's no secret the kind of power that pit holds to those who survive it. I don't know how word got out but it did. That's why Jakar was here. To dispose of you now before you come fully into your powers and the task becomes extremely difficult."

Kim let out a long sigh. That was the last thing she needed to hear. That the intergalactic community, both good and evil, knew of what she was becoming. She hoped that Jakar would go back and spread word that she was too strong, that it wasn't worth trying to defeat her in battle. Otherwise she'd have more to deal with than she needed. There was one thing she knew for sure. She'd have to work harder to grasp her powers so that she would be strong enough to fight off whatever was to come, starting with her teleportation ability. "Thank you for telling me. I'll be more prepared for any future attacks."

Elemi nodded. "Please be careful." He hated to see anything bad happen to her.

"I will." she assured him."Take care."

"You too." he replied giving his fellow red a quick hug before exiting the infirmary. Elemi went to gather the rest of his team as Kim exited behind him. With one more set of goodbyes they teleported off.

"What was that about?" Tommy asked the moment they were out of sight. He was ready to strangle Elemi for feeling the need to talk to his girlfriend in private.

"Nothing." she said smiling at him. "Ranger stuff." she quickly added hoping he wouldn't explode

"That he couldn't share with us?" Tommy questioned curious to know the answer

"It was about some other things we encountered while we were working together. It doesn't involve the current fight and Elemi just wanted to update me in private. He tends to keep ranger business between those he feels need to know." Kim replied hoping he would believe her. He certainly didn't need to be worried about other beings in the universe coming to test out her abilities, not with everything else that was going on for their team. If the situation grew more serious she'd have to bring him into the fold but hopefully for now it would end with Jakar.

Fortunately for Kim, Tommy was standing in front of Carri and totally missed the look that her friend just gave her. Carri knew well enough that there wasn't anything else going on while they were working together besides the Callisto and Rhianna situation. But she was, at least, kind enough to keep her mouth shut.

"Anyway I have to get back to work. I've got too much going on and the fight lasted too long." Kim said walking up to Tommy and planting a kiss on his lips. "We'll talk later I promise."

"Ok." he replied as she teleported out. He wasn't sure if he was truly ok but he knew regardless of what was said Kim wouldn't have been in there hitting on Elemi. What Elemi might have said or done he didn't know but the red ranger was gone for now and there wasn't anything for Tommy to get seriously worked up over at the moment.

"I'm out of here too." Jason said pulling Tommy out of his thoughts. "I have some stuff I have to do." He'd had a meeting with his publisher that had been scheduled for that afternoon and he had planned to go as soon as he'd gotten Carri away from throttling Chris. He assumed that with the monster alarm going off the meeting would've been postponed and he'd be alright if he headed over there now.

"Alright bro." Tommy said as Jason teleported out leaving him in the Command Chamber with Billy, Rocky and Carri.

Carri smiled at the two boys just as the phone in her pocket started to vibrate. She picked it up and saw that it was a text from her assistant Mollie. The message was that due to the monster attack they had postponed her meeting until a bit later. "Good now I can go check on Kat." she said aloud

"Check on Kat?" Rocky questioned raising an eyebrow. That was an odd statement for his girlfriend to make. "What's going on with Kat?"

"Oh not much." she said nonchalantly. "Just her bastard husband intentionally left her in restaurant that was being held up and she's been trapped inside with all hope of survival in the hands of hostage negotiators."

Rocky looked at her with disbelief. "What?" he questioned

Carri waved him off. "It's a long story. I promise I'll tell you later." she replied wrapping her arms around him and giving him a kiss before teleporting off

Rocky was rather baffled as beside him Tommy groaned. "What is going on this time?" Tommy questioned hoping there wasn't going to be some sort of mess forthcoming

"Who knows." Rocky replied with a sigh. "I've got to get back to work."

"Me too." Tommy added. He had been in the middle of some important research when he got the page for battle.

"That makes three of us." Billy chimed in. The guys all said their goodbyes before they teleported out, leaving the Command Chamber empty.

* * *

Callisto sat, arms crossed as she thought about the battle. It hadn't been a complete loss, although she had been hoping that she could skip a step in her plan and have the rangers destroyed right there. But in the end it will be more fun for her to do it her way. And with Jakar losing she shouldn't have to worry about anyone else coming to try their hand at Kim anytime soon. Not until they had a plan anyway.

Of course the most important part was with each passing moment the rangers were distracted, Cratus got a little closer to her goal. Hopefully it wouldn't take him longer than a week, two tops, to finish the task she'd sent him on. Of course that meant that she'd have to keep the rangers distracted for that long. It shouldn't be hard. She had Cirranadrones, and Goldar, and although Rhianna's monsters tended to be hit or miss they'd serve their purpose.

If all else failed Callisto herself could go taunt the rangers. Regardless of whether or not she did any damage taunting them was always fun. Besides it had been a while since she'd gotten to play with them. She'd been so wrapped up in the overall picture and the strategies that she hadn't had any fun of her own recently. She knew well enough that it was part of the battle, but that didn't mean she shouldn't be allowed to take a break once in a while. And really there wasn't much for her to plan at the moment, she might as well go have her fun. Soon she would have what she needed. If Rhianna survived the upcoming trials she'd get her planet, and Callisto would most certainly get the destruction of the rangers.

* * *

Carri teleported far enough away from the scene not to be noticed. Things were just starting to calm down from the earlier monster attack. She tiptoed around the buildings and merged back into the crowd, pushing her way to the front where all the action seemed to be.

She quickly noticed that the building was no longer cut off by the yellow police tape. Two police cars were driving away with what Carri assumed to be the robbers in the backseat. Carri emerged at the front of the crowd, peering past the reporters to the hostages that were being tended to by the emergency responders. Scanning around she caught a glimpse of the blonde pregnant woman who was sitting on a bench in front of the diner with her husband. "Kat!" Carri called out as she walked over to the bench, angling herself so that she could ignore Chris with no problem. Fortunately for him the monster battle had somewhat calmed her down, but she wasn't going to give him a chance to push her buttons again.

Kat stood, surprised to see her cousin there. "Carri, hey, what are you doing here?"

"I was here earlier." Carri said pointedly not mentioning her encounter with Chris. If he wasn't going to mention it she wouldn't worry Kat with it now. Besides Kat would probably see it all over the news that evening and she would probably side with her husband. Carri wasn't in the mood to have that particular argument at the moment. "I saw the story on the news and I came to check out the situation. Then I hid when the monster alarms went off."

Kat nodded, well aware that by hid she meant she ran off and took care of whatever it was that was causing the alarms to go off in the first place. "Well thank goodness for that alarm. It saved us."

"How's that?" Carri asked curiously. The attack had been well out of the way of the diner and she couldn't imagine how in the world the alarm had saved the people being held hostage.

"You know how it is when the alarm goes off." Kat said. She was aware that Carri really didn't understand, she'd never been an average citizen in Angel Grove when it happened, always a ranger. But the citizens tended to panic and flee. Not because they were worried that noone was going to save them. They, in fact, were quite proud of their rangers. They tended to boast to other California towns such as Silver Hills and Reefside that their town showcased the original rangers, therefor the best rangers and the rest of the ranger teams were lesser copies.

What the citizens were always worried about was where the attack was. Monsters could be vicious, despite how fast the rangers were able to take them down. There had been numerous civilian injuries and very few deaths, not to mention those who had been inflicted with magical problems such as sleeping dust. Noone in town wanted to be involved in one of those numbers, which is why everyone tried to securely hide or flee when the alarms went off. "The two gunmen panicked. They didn't know what to do, they didn't want to die in a monster attack while holding up a restaurant. SWAT saw them falling apart and it was easy for them to move in."

Carri couldn't help but snort. "All those years of giving us crap and the bad guys may have finally done something right." Of course the battle was a pain in the ass but she'd take it if it meant it saved the lives of those in Russo's Diner.

Kat thought for a moment before interrupting in a fit of giggles. She couldn't help it, the thought that after all those years and all Callisto had put her through, that she had finally done something to help her she had to laugh.

Chris glanced up at his wife. He didn't find Carri's comment that amusing and he didn't understand why Kat did either. They were sharing some sort of inside joke and he found himself a little annoyed and more than a little jealous. After the fight he'd had with Carri earlier he didn't want her to be around, let alone sharing any kind of jokes with his wife. "Kat maybe we should get going. You should rest."

"Kat I'm glad to see you're ok." Carri said ignoring Chris's comment and not giving her cousin a chance to respond. She waited for Kat's thank you before she continued. "I've got a meeting to get to this afternoon. I just came back to make sure this situation resolved itself."

"I'm glad you did." Kat replied. She was pleased that her cousin had come out to give her support.

"Call me when you feel up to it." Carri had a feeling that would be whenever she found out about that afternoon's situation, but that was alright. "I'll see you later." she added as she turned and started pushing back through the crowd, making her way to the spot she'd left her car earlier.

* * *

That evening Jason left his publisher's office and headed home, taking the route that would run him by Emily's work. As he left he couldn't help but think about how mad the agent that worked for his publisher had gotten when he told him he'd picked his own production company to do all of his films. He thought that the poor man's head was going to explode. Although his argument was that Ausus wasn't capable of handling something of that calabur, Jason had a feeling that the real reason behind the man's anger was that he was going to loose out on the huge sum he would get if Jason chose the production company he selected.

Jason's publisher didn't care, he was just delighted that the book was getting made into a movie. And as his publisher he was getting paid one way or the other. As far as his agent went, well he had never been thrilled with the man to begin with. He'd reluctantly allowed him to work as his agent only because he thought it would be the best thing for his books. But now that he'd secured his own production company there was no need for the agent. If his publisher felt as though he'd still need an agent for the future he'd secure his own. Which was exactly what he told his publisher before heading home.

Jason cast those thoughts aside as he pulled up in front of Emily's building. As he usually did, he made sure to stay out of sight. He was only there to get a glimpse of her, to make sure everything was ok. It had become his daily ritual, and one of the few things that made him genuinely happy. Although he missed the physicality of an actual relationship, seeing her was enough to somewhat fulfill him and keep him from desiring to run out and have a real date. Kim and Carri were concerned with this shift in his behavior but hopefully him agreeing to go out with Carri's actress would be enough for them to not worry. The last thing he wanted was for them to realize he wasn't interested in dating because he was once again infatuated with Emily, the woman who once caused his depression and was the reason the girls spent weeks consoling him.

Glancing at the door he saw Emily walk out. He smiled to himself as a friend came out after her, calling her name and causing her to turn her head. Her hair whipped around her face and she was stunningly beautiful. Jason let out a sigh as he let his imagination run wild. Although he missed her, he still wasn't sure if he wanted a second chance with her with the way they ended their relationship. But he certainly daydreamed about the physical portion of their past encounters. In his daydreams Emily had never cheated on him and they'd had an amazing relationship in all aspects. Of course those were his daydreams and this was real life. And it real life he simply wasn't sure what the situation was.

He pulled himself away from his daydream and looked around. Emily was no longer standing outside and a quick glance toward the parking lot told him she hadn't moved to her car. He assumed she'd gone back inside and he was inclined to sit there for a moment to see if he could catch another glimpse. He crossed his arms over his chest and settled in. Seconds later he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

Turning he quickly found that the woman of his daydreams was standing next to him, arms crossed and eyes glaring. This was one of the few times in his life that Jason Lee Scott was absolutely speechless. He tried to say something but the words just weren't coming out and Emily held a hand up to cut him off.

Emily didn't know whether to be angry or flattered with Jason stalking her. She'd seen him for the last few weeks as he'd drive up close to her building on his motorcycle, then watch as she'd exit the building and head to her car, keeping an eye on her until she drove off. Since the first day she'd seen him there she'd wanted to say something but she couldn't. The last time she spoke to him not counting his answering machine was when she'd jumped out of bed with Aaron and chased after him, tears flowing down her face as she tried to say I'm sorry. What gave her the courage to speak with him on this particular day she'd never know, but she was here and she was ready to get answers.

"Why are you watching me?" she asked anxiously waiting for the answer

"I... um... I'm not watching you." Jason tried to blow it off as though Emily was crazy. He surprised himself as he could feel the nerves rising. He wasn't ever nervous about anything.

"Don't lie to me Jason." Emily replied. There was nothing he could say, he was busted. "I've seen you every day you've been out here."

"Well I just figured... I mean Callisto is the villain in charge here and she knows you so I thought... well I thought I should monitor your safety. An association with a current ranger shouldn't get you killed." Jason was well aware of how stupid it sounded when he said it. Monitor your safety? There's no way she would buy that.

Emily was slightly surprised by his early admittance of his reinvolvement with the rangers. Although she knew she shouldn't be. She could probably pick them all out. She knew what her old friend's spirit animals were and she knew what the current rangers zords were which made it easy. She silently mused on how it was fitting that the greatest ranger junkies she ever knew were rangers again after all these years. "You and I both know that Callisto wouldn't have any concern for a woman you haven't spoken to since college." Callisto was simple. Kill the rangers, kill their friends. Emily fell into neither category.

Jason let out a sigh. "Fine." he mumbled. He was going to have to tell her whether he wanted to or not. "A recent... experience," he said for lack of a better word as he wasn't sure what to call his chance meeting with another dimension's Emily and he wasn't sure how much he wanted to divulge with her right off the bat, "made me remember how much I cared about you in the first place. Despite everything I just wanted to see you again."

"You could've called or something. You didn't have to watch me from afar." Emily would've loved to hear from Jason. She would've been more than a little surprised, but a phone call would've been nice.

"It's not that easy. You still crushed my heart, remember?" Jason said a little more harshly than he intended. "I don't know, maybe this was a mistake."

"I'm sorry." she replied softly. "I've missed you too you know." She looked over at him and thought for a moment. The way their relationship had ended haunted her for a long time. She always loved Jason, and thought about him more than a few times over the years. "If you give me an hour, maybe we can go out and meet for dinner and a beer?"

Jason thought for a moment. It was what he wanted wasn't it? To spend time with her? Part of him was eager to say yes while there was another part that still had reservations. "Alright." he said finally, hoping that he was making the right decision. Maybe they could be friends again. Worst case scenario she reminds him of just how she broke his heart and he realizes he was stupid to look her up and moves on with his life.

"Great." Emily said with a smile. She took a piece of paper and a pen out of her purse and handed it to him. "Give me your number. I'll call you when I'm ready."

Jason took the paper and quickly jotted his number down. "Alright. Talk to you later then."

"Later it is." Emily replied, watching as he cranked up his motorcycle and took off

* * *

It had been a long day, one Kim was more than glad was over. As she drove down the streets of Angel Grove she couldn't help but think of everything that she had to focus on. At the moment work was the least of her problems. Sandy of course hadn't been happy with Kim skipping out again in the middle of the day but she'd all but given up on complaining about it. Ashley had made it perfectly clear that she didn't care what Kim did with her day as long as the work she produced was quality. And she was more than slightly pleased with what Kim was cranking out so far for the promotion of her new clothing line. Kim was excited, she was working her butt off and sometimes feeling slightly crazy but it was worth it.

Even the battle she'd had that afternoon wasn't the biggest stressor on the list. Sure there had been more monsters than usual, and yes they needed a little help, but it was taken care of. She did wonder what an attack of that magnitude meant and hoped that she'd have answers soon. She had a feeling that Callisto was up to something and she'd have to work to figure out what. Despite serious concerns over Callisto the one thing that was weighing most heavily on here was the fact that there were other psychos out there who'd be interested in testing her abilities. She'd been focusing on her teleportation ability lately, something that was vastly improving. She could get herself where she wanted to go about a quarter of the time now. As soon as she was completely accurate she'd have to start working on mastering her other abilities. She'd be able to teleport herself off, disappear for however long she saw fit in order to practice, then return herself to a time only moments later. It would be difficult, being away from her friends and Tommy for long periods of time, but it was something she'd have to do.

With a sigh Kim pulled into the parking lot of Bulkmeier's and turned off the engine. She tried to forget those thoughts as she headed into the restaurant and was pointed by the hostess in Carri's direction. She walked over to her friend and sat across from her. "Hey." she greeted

"Hello." Carri replied cheerfully. "Rocky's last class ran late he'll be here soon."

"Good." Kim said smiling at her. She declined to comment on Tommy's whereabouts, after this many years of being friends both girls were aware that Tommy's clock seemed to run slower than that of those around him. How he managed to start his classes on time Kim would never know. The waitress approached and Kim ordered a drink. When she left there was silence and Kim's thoughts drifted back to everything she was hoping to escape that evening. She let out a sigh as she looked up at Carri. Carri was her best friend, and the only person who knew every detail about the last few years of her life. She needed to talk to someone and as much as she wanted to tell Tommy, she knew Carri would understand and not flip out. "I wanted to talk about this afternoon." she said as she leaned in closely

Carri leaned in as well. "Yeah something's definitely up. That was huge. And with Jakar... well she's planning something and we've got to figure out what it is."

"Not about that, although that is important." Kim paused for a second. "Remember when Elemi pulled me into the infirmary?"

Carri snorted. "Yeah I remember spending the next few minutes being part of a ranger barrier that was keeping your boyfriend from storming in there and ripping limbs away from Elemi."

"That bad?" Kim questioned. She really hadn't had much time to talk to Tommy about it since. He seemed alright when she left but he knew where she was concerned he could get jealous and he could have a temper. Kim winced as Carri nodded her head yes. "Well I'll take care of Tommy later. The important thing is that Elemi wanted to tell me that Jakar came to fight me. To see if the red Planetary Ranger with Muirantian powers was a threat."

"Oh." Carri replied raising an eyebrow. "Does this mean your powers are growing?"

"I'd say so." Kim said. "The day I moved out of your apartment I accidentally teleported myself to the past. Eventually I ended up on Phaedos, did some powers training with Dulcea for six months. What I can do, it's incredible." The whispers stopped for a moment as the waitress dropped Kim's drink off. "I don't have a handle on any of my powers, but I'm hoping to. Right now I'm working on teleporting myself places. I'm twenty-five percent accurate."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me this before." Carri said with a frown. Where ranger related things were concerned they told each other everything. In fact, where most things were concerned there were no secrets between them.

"I didn't know what to tell or what I wanted to tell. Everything's kind of strange now." Kim admitted. The Muirantian powers had changed her and that was a hard thing to talk about with anyone, especially since noone could really know what she was going through.

Carri shrugged. "It's ok." She'd get over it. "Does Tommy know?" There had been a lot of stuff that was on the list of "don't mention in front of Tommy" with regards to what Kim had gone through. She knew Kim was planning on telling Tommy everything when she thought he was ready, but she had a feeling that the Muirantian powers changed a lot of things.

"He knows my powers are growing. And I told him I teleported myself across the room that day. But you're the only one who knows about Dulcea." Kim said pausing as Carri narrowed her eyes and looked at her. "I know I'm keeping a lot from him. I also know he has his ranger secrets, things he's been involved with that he's not sharing." She watched as Carri started to open her mouth before she cut her off. "This is different, this is my personal abilities, I know. But I don't need him to worry about me all the time. I'm going to tell him I promise. But not all at once. We have this battle to worry about. I need him to focus his ranger energy on protecting Earth, not on searching for any villain who might have it out for me."

"I wouldn't worry about that right now. No bad guy is dumb enough to cross Callisto and come attack you. And she's not going to give them permission unless it fits her plan. Like Jakar apparently did. And you're right, he's the leader and he needs to be more concerned with why Callisto let Jakar lead a small army after us and not why Jakar wanted to fight you."

"It's bad enough having Elemi concerned for me I certainly don't need to have Tommy worried as well." Kim pointed out, watching as Carri giggled at the thought of the Nova red having feelings for her. "I do love Tommy with all my heart. And eventually he'll know everything." Kim emphasized the everything as one day she would fill him in on specifics of what she did on Phaedos years before as well as everything having to do with Muirantian abilities and powers she did or would have. "But for now..." Kim stopped as Carri's foot suddenly jabbed into her shin

"Hey guys." Carri greeted as Tommy and Rocky approached their table. Her boyfriend leaned down and wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss on her lips before taking the vacant seat next to her.

"Sorry I'm so late." Tommy apologized as he sat down next to Kim. "I actually got caught up watching the evening news."

"Me too." Rocky chimed in as he looked over at his girlfriend. He wasn't quite sure what his reaction was yet. On one hand he totally agreed with Carri. On the other, he wished she'd think twice sometimes before losing her temper.

"Oh. That's nice." Carri replied

"Anything good on the news?" Kim asked curious as to the looks the two male rangers were exchanging and wondering why Carri seemed so uninterested in the topic

"Just Carri." Tommy said glaring at her

"What?" Kim questioned

"Apparently Kat and Chris went out to eat to Russo's Diner. While they were there the place was held up and Chris took off, leaving Kat in the diner with two gunmen. The police and SWAT were there - it was a mess." Rocky relayed the first part of the story

"That bastard." Kim said. She was once the one who'd said that Chris had to have some redeeming qualities, but if he left his pregnant wife in there in danger she certainly couldn't imagine there being anything positive about him.

"That's exactly what I said." Carri replied with a smile

"Was that before or after you tried to kick his ass?" Rocky questioned. It had been the big story on the news, even trumping footage of the monster attack. Of course the story inside the story of the hostage situation was Carri, the new television hostess, arguing with Chris and which one was right. Most agreed that although Carri shouldn't have gotten that angry, it takes a certain kind of loser to leave his pregnant wife with two gunmen. The same loser that pushed Carri's last button as she was trying to walk away. And as Jessica knows firsthand, that never ends pleasantly. At least Jason was there to keep her from doing something stupid. Although he wasn't pleased by the image of Jason sitting on top of her on the pavement. He'd seen the footage, he knew it wasn't intentional. But he couldn't help the old feelings of jealousy that crept back up when he saw them together on the news. He would, of course, bite his tongue. Carri would merely wave him off and be hurt that he even suggested it. Besides they've been friends for years and Jason treats her and Kim like sisters. There's never been any attraction there. But that doesn't stop him from being a little bit jealous.

"Before, after, and in between." Carri clarified with a lopsided grin. The boys didn't look to happy but she knew they didn't like Chris either. Despite what they'd say they'd know he deserved it.

Tommy crossed his arms and looked sternly at her, to which she looked quizzically back. This was a look that would frighten most rangers. He was feared by some and respected by all and nobody wanted him angry with them. Carri and the rest of his team had known him too long to be threatened by his angry side but he wanted to let her know he meant business. "That is not acceptable behavior and I will not tolerate that kind of conduct from someone on my team, especially someone of your calabur. I do not want to see anyone on the news like that." Rangers weren't supposed to be showcased for temper outbursts. It didn't matter if the citizens knew who she was, the ranger community knew and that was good enough. "That was unprofessional and it better not happen again."

Carri raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Kim. She was amused by Tommy's reaction although she was desperately trying not to show it. Where ranger issues were concerned he was serious and she didn't want him to have an excuse to take his anger out on her. "Yes sir." she finally replied as seriously as she could

"Good." Tommy replied. "Now that you understand that," he paused leaning in to the table, "what I'm about to say is not to leave this table and I will deny ever saying it if it does." He waited as Carri leaned close and nodded. "Chris is an asshole and I was cheering for you to knock his lights out." he whispered to her

Carri laughed as she leaned back, watching as Tommy gave her the stern look. She threw her hands up, making a motion of zipping her lips closed and throwing away the key. Where ranger conduct was concerned Tommy was serious. Just because Chris was an ass, didn't mean a ranger should be out there letting him know.

The waitress chose that moment to head over to the table. "You guys ready to order?"

Rocky grinned. "I'm starving." he replied as he and his three friends prepared to place their orders and enjoy a nice, peaceful dinner

* * *

Emily stood outside of the small bar and grill that she'd told Jason to meet her at. She'd arrived a few minutes early, which was quite surprising considering how much time she'd spent on her appearance. She tried to convince herself that it didn't matter, but the truth was that she'd waited a long time for the opportunity to see Jason again and now that she had it, she wanted everything to go perfectly. Not that she expected it to end with Jason sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her away, she just wanted it to end with her being able to be friends once again with someone she cared greatly for.

The distinct sound of a motorcycle filled the evening air. Emily watched as Jason pulled up and parked, quickly climbing off and heading over to her. "Hey." he greeted giving her a smile. He was nervous as well, hoping that this encounter would turn out to be a good idea. "Are you ready to go inside?"

"Sure." Emily replied. She stood there as Jason opened the door for her, letting her in before taking the lead and heading over to a table in the bar. There was awkward silence at first as the waitress came over and took their drink orders. "So. How have you been?" Emily asked after the waitress left to get their beers

"Good. Working some. Saving the world some." he said with a smile. Although she was followed the news and was probably well aware of the saving the world part. Which was actually kind of nice to be sitting here with someone not on his team that he could openly discuss rangering with. "What about you?" he asked although he already knew the answer

She smiled at him and Jason tried hard not to melt as he remembered how much he loved it when she smiled. "I believe you know where I work." she started and he nodded. "I finished school and went straight to work. Other than that it's been pretty boring."

"Life in Angel Grove is never boring." Jason replied

Emily chuckled. "I suppose that's true. Although it's been quiet for a few years here." She almost missed the attacks on Angel Grove because oddly that's when she and Jason were happiest. Despite all the turmoil him being a ranger caused, their relationship seemed to deteriorate after his tenure ended. She supposed it was due to the fact that a lot of things changed after he quit being a ranger. She was working and going to school, he stepped up his extra curricular activities, and they just couldn't seem to find the time to spend together.

Jason nodded as the duo suddenly found themselves staring at each other in silence. He watched for a few moments as Emily sat there as beautiful as ever. She smiled at him and pushed a strand of hair out of her face. All he wanted to do was take her right there.

Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control himself. He couldn't let this get out of hand. She still cheated on him, she still broke his heart no matter how beautiful she still was. And that was something that weighed heavily on him. "Why?" he said suddenly. He had to know. He couldn't sit here and have a conversation with her without first hashing out their past.

"Why what?" Emily questioned, genuinely confused

"I have to know." Jason said simply, pausing for a moment. "Why you cheated on me all those years ago."

Emily sighed and tried to hold in the emotions that particular memory evoked. "Because... God Jason there's no good enough reason you know... if I had to have a reason though? You were always busy, I was always busy. Sometimes I felt as though you were on the other side of the country. I was lonely. Aaron, that was his name, he was in one of my classes. We studied together. The night you caught us, he had come over to study, and well it just happened. It was the only time, and after you left I threw him out and quit studying with him. It was months before I considered dating again. I just put my head down into my classes."

Emily wasn't proud at all that it happened. Aaron had been hanging around with her a lot as her study partner. There was attraction there but she never thought she'd actually act on it. She loved Jason, she would never intentionally hurt him. But she enjoyed spending time with Aaron. He was normal, he was a man in her life that hadn't been swept up by the power rangers. Whether or not he'd admit it, the rangers made Jason a different person. It wasn't a bad thing, but it sometimes left her wondering what a relationship with a man who wasn't a ranger would be like. She never intended on having sex, but Jason was the only person she'd been with sexually so when Aaron started to make advances in her apartment her curiosity let her get swept up in the moment.

"I loved you Jason, that didn't change. What I did... I'm sorry. It was a mistake, one that I admit to making and one that I never got to apologize for. It was a stupid thing to do but it happened and no matter what I do I can't change that. I only regret that you never gave me the chance to say how sorry I was, how much I regretted it, how much I regretted hurting you, the man that I loved." Emily said, taking a deep breath as she looked at Jason anxiously waiting for a response

Jason looked her over, carefully taking in her words. He was hurt and he didn't give her a chance to apologize, he didn't want to give her a chance. She had cheated and that was it. The thought of being with someone else never crossed his mind while they were together. Of course Emily swore that the thought never crossed her mind either, that Aaron wasn't the boyfriend on the side, and he was inclined to believe her. Her face was that of a woman who'd carried around the pain and sorrow of that particular memory for a long time. It was kind of nice to know that he hadn't been the only one carrying around that burden.

"Ok." he finally said after a long pause. She seemed genuinely sorry and he was finally ready to listen to her apology and forgive her.

"Ok?" Emily questioned. She wasn't sure what ok meant. Ok I heard what you said and I still hate you or ok I heard what you said and I can start to forgive you. She looked into his eyes and silently prayed for the latter.

"What happened... it was hard for me." Jason spoke breaking the awkward tension that was starting to form between them. "I felt like you betrayed me and it took a long time before I could move past that." Truthfully he still hadn't completely moved past it as he hadn't had a serious relationship since she cheated on him. But that was something he wasn't ready to address with her. "I had Kim and Carri delete all your voice messages you left after I caught you. I didn't want to hear from you. I didn't give you a chance to apologize and I'm sorry. I'm glad that you had the chance now. I forgive you for what happened."

Emily smiled as she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest. The burden she had been carrying around for all those years had finally been lifted. "Thank you." Emily said as their waitress returned with their beers. The duo ordered sandwiches for dinner and then a silence fell between them as the waitress left to put their food orders in. Emily nervously rubbed her beer bottle in between her hands for a few moments. "So...", she started her voice trailing off, "to friends?" she questioned as she lifted her beer bottle in the air

"To friends." Jason repeated as he clanged his bottle against hers before taking a big swig. It was nice to have some closure after all those years and to have Emily back in his life. He did miss her and he was reminded of that every time he drove past her work and saw her standing out there. Even if they were just friends she was someone outside of the rangers he could talk to, hang out with. Jason was excited. As he sat across from Emily he couldn't help but think about the future and how much he had to look forward to.


	17. Universal Disturbance

Power Rangers: Legacy  
"Universal Disturbance"

Rocky left his school on a Friday afternoon, anxious to see what the cause of his mother's disturbance was. She had called him earlier and was more than a little unhappy about whatever had riled her up. She wouldn't tell him what it was, claimed he had to see it for himself. It had to be something major, as although he was close with his family his mother never called and said she had to see him.

He assumed it had something to do with one of his siblings. That one of them had gotten into trouble or done something they shouldn't have. Or maybe even damaged something they shouldn't have as it was something he had to see. With a sigh he continued on down the road, hoping that whatever it was it wouldn't take long as he had dinner plans with Carri later.

The drive to the house went by quickly, and eventually he found himself pulling into the driveway of a place he once called home. Things looked quiet on the outside, but that tended to be the case now that four of the seven DeSantos children had moved out of the house. He shook his head as he thought about how things were obviously not ok in the inside. Rocky climbed out of the car and let the door shut behind him before walking up the path to the font door.

"Hello?" Rocky called as let himself in

"In here." Isabelle DeSantos called back from the kitchen

Rocky shut the door and walked through the living room, cautiously making his way into the dining room. "Hey mamma." he greeted as he sat down at the table across from her

"Hello." she said politely, but he could see she was frazzled about something. "Coffee?"

"No thank you. I have dinner plans tonight I have to get home." Rocky replied giving his mother a smile. He wanted her to hurry up and tell him what this was about so he could move on. She had been so cryptic on the phone and with the way she was acting now he couldn't imagine what was bothering her.

"With your girlfriend?" she questioned raising an eyebrow

"Yeah with Carri." he said flashing her another smile. He knew his mother was ok with him getting back together with her after she left him. She wasn't thrilled, she'd had people in mind for him that were apparently friends of the family. But Carri was a much better choice than Jessica. And he knew she was holding onto the option that if that didn't work, she'd make her move.

The hardest thing for his Isabel had been the fact that Carri had broken his heart as far as she was concerned. She took off to traipse around the world without him, leaving him depressed for weeks after her departure. She couldn't believe that he'd forgiven her when she came back, but she respected his decision. All the while she prayed that he wouldn't become too attached in case she broke his heart again.

Unfortunately that afternoon she'd found herself regretting the decision not to interfere in his love life. His girlfriend had apparently broken his heart again, or was about to as it seemed as though he didn't know. She was glad that she could be the one to tell him, that he'd be with his mother when he found out. She smiled at him before she spoke. "That's good." she said as she took a deep breath. This would be hard on him again, but she'd help him through it, help him make better choices. "Marissa brought home something today."

"Oh?" Rocky questioned raising an eyebrow. He didn't know what his sixteen year old sister could have possibly brought home that he'd have to see. Unless of course that something was the worst thing he could think of, like drugs or weapons or something along those lines.

Much to his surprise his mother reached out from behind her back and tossed a paper on the table in front of him. "A tabloid? Mom I don't get"

"Turn to page thirteen." she requested, then braced for his response

Rocky did as his mother suggested, taking in a huge breath of air as he saw the page. It was titled "Hollywood's Latest Whore" and was littered with pictures of his girlfriend. There was one of her with Matt having lunch, a few of her with Jason including the one from a week and a half ago where he tackled her on the pavement to keep her from pummeling Chris, and several of her with him. The article pointed out all the different encounters with the three different guys, and he even found a mention of her with Tommy as there was a smaller picture of the two of them embedded into the article. But as they hadn't been spotted alone in public lately they assumed he was out of the picture. The article questioned who was her current boyfriend, or if she was just dating all three at one time. The article also insinuated that it ran in the family as Josh was well known as a party boy with lots of dates streaming through his life and now here she was, looking much the same.

"Shit." he said with feeling as he let out the breath of air he'd been holding

His mother ignored the obscenity as she went to put her hand on her son's. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this. I'm here for you son if you need anything."

"Mom, no." he said pulling his hand out from under hers. "You know Carri. This isn't her."

"I never thought she'd break your heart once and she did. And here she is again doing the same thing. Hollywood corrupted her." Isabelle said looking into her son's eyes. "I know it's hard to believe but it's in the paper."

"In the tabloids." Rocky was quick to correct. The tabloids which over the years had painted both her brother and her father in an unflattering light. Carri admitted that some of it had a grain of truth to it, but most of it was a matter of taking pictures and speculating stories to go with it. Which was exactly what this had been. "Look who she's in the pictures with. You know Jason. We went to high school together. Matt graduated with us too. They're old friends. The only one she's been seen kissing was me."

"Look at that one." Isabelle said pointing to the image of Jason sitting on her on the pavement. "No woman would let a man do that unless they were in a relationship."

"They took that way out of context." Rocky said with a sigh. That had been on the news and he wasn't surprised that it had been one of the images coming back to haunt her. "It's a long story mom but I knew about that the day it happened. And despite the picture there wasn't anything sexual about it."

"Rocky I want you to be cautious. I don't want her to break your heart again. After this I'm not sure you can trust her." Isabelle said making eye contact with her son

Rocky sighed once more. So that was what this was all about. He knew she always worried that Carri would break his heart again even though he swore that she didn't the first time. "Thank you for the concern." Rocky said as he stood and gave his mother a kiss. "But I can assure you that I am the only man in Carri's life."

"Rocky I"

"Do you mind if I take this?" he asked gesturing to the tabloid as he cut his mother off

"I don't want that in this house. It depresses me as it should you." Isabelle said as she crossed her arms and looked at her son. He was being stubborn and he was only going to get hurt worse in the process.

"Everything's fine mom, I promise. This will get straightened out." Rocky assured her as he grabbed the article. He said goodbye to his mother and headed toward the door. Everything was certainly fine, or at least it would be until he brought the article home to Carri. The poor bastard that wrote the article had no idea what was coming to him.

* * *

Kim wandered into Ashley's office late that afternoon. She was thrilled it was Friday. That meant the weekend was coming and she had plans for a date with Tommy. But first she'd have to go see Ashley and update her on her progress before she could even start to look forward to her weekend.

"Hey." Kim greeted the former yellow ranger as she shut the door behind herself and sat across from her

"Hey. Thanks for coming by." Ashley replied. Although her coming by was mandatory she always liked to let her employees know she appreciated it.

"Of course." Kim said. She wasn't lost on the fact that she had no choice, but she always appreciated Ashley's thankful greetings. In fact she enjoyed a lot of the ways Ashley ran her clothing company. She couldn't think of a better boss. Ashley was always chipper and she couldn't ever think of a time where she'd been angry. Even when she fired Shawn she'd kept a rather pleasant demeanor.

"So do you have the updates for me?" Ashley asked eager to see the new stuff Kim had worked out for her clothing campaign

Kim pushed a folder across the desk and handed her a flash drive. "There's the hard copies and the computer files."

"Great." Ashley replied opening the folder and glancing briefly at it before letting it shut again. "You know the first part of the campaign is launching this weekend." she reminded her. It was for her new fall clothing line, which was already being trickled into stores. Kim had spent her first three weeks with the first part of the campaign and had then switched over to the second part, which is what she was giving her updates on now. At the first of October the second part of the campaign would officially launch.

"That's right I'd almost forgotten." Kim said with a smile. She couldn't believe it was the middle of September already. With everything going on time was flying. Especially recently with the attacks stepping up since the Nova's visit. She had so much going on days were starting to blur together. Ashley looked surprised that Kim could have forgotten. "I've been busy." she said lamely

Ashley nodded. "I've noticed." Monster attacks have been the center of the news everyday. Kim was still getting her work done on top of dealing with all that, and Ashley had no idea how she managed. Her company and her family consumed so much of her life now that she couldn't possibly think of ever going back. "Is Sandy giving you grief?" she questioned as she thought about how the woman had finally stopped bugging her with Kim's disappearances

"Sometimes. Not as much about me leaving though. I think she knows she's lost that battle. She still doesn't like me." Kim pointed out. It was hard working for someone who thought less of you. Even with her recent work Sandy still hadn't warmed up to her, and she couldn't fathom the idea that this little nobody could be gone for hours and still be in Ashley's good graces where anyone else would get fired.

Shrugging Ashley went to formulate a response. "I'm sorry about that. She'll never get it. Why I let you leave, why I'm so cozy with the new employee. But don't worry about it. I'm still the boss here."

Kim laughed. "I know it's the only reason I still have a job."

Ashley giggled as well. The two calmed down and a silence fell between them. "So how's everything else going?"

"Tommy and I are doing good. I'm... adjusting to everything Muirantian." she said not wanting to reveal too much to Ashley. The last thing she wanted to do was reveal everything to everyone except for Tommy. "The ranger thing has been a pain but you know how that is." Kim continued, making eye contact with Ashley who nodded. "What about you? How are the kids? And Andros?"

"The kids are doing well." Ashley replied smiling. Her two children were her pride and joy. "Andros is... well he's good but..." Ashley paused to sigh. It was complex, but she felt like she needed to talk to someone and Kim was the only person she saw on a daily basis she could talk to openly. "Andros went with Zhane and Karone on the Mark II to go check something out."

"What's going on?" Kim asked. Not that it was strange for former rangers to check things out, but at least with one of the Planetary rangers involved she would've thought she would've heard about it.

"An old family friend of Andros's - who Karone knew in her youth and Zhane knew well - called to say their planet had been attacked and that he needed help." Ashley replied. It had been hard for Andros to receive this kind of message from someone who once meant so much to him. When he did he had to go see what happened.

"Family friend? Was he with the colonists?" Kim questioned, referring to the group of colonists that currently resided on KO-35. They spent years in hiding while Darkonda was still around and after he was killed they finally returned home to rebuild and start over.

"No - he left after Darkonda's attack. He's living on Harpta." Ashley explained. Although most of the colony stayed together, some feared it was a lost cause and they'd be better off evacuating to another planet and joining their society. "I guess someone came after the planet and nearly leveled it. He's not sure who or what is responsible.

"They don't think it has anything to do with our conflict do they?" Kim asked raising an eyebrow. She couldn't imagine that Callisto and Rhianna would need anything on Harpta. It was a peaceful planet, always insistent on being neutral where intergalactic affairs were concerned as Kim found out firsthand when she led the initial battle against Callisto and Rhianna. She had sent messages to as many planets as she could find, looking for ranger teams to help her. The King of Harpta, although pleasant, was quick to point out that they'd never had a ranger team and never would as those who live in peace don't need that kind of protection. If it weren't for the serious of the situation it would almost be amusing to find that he was wrong. Of course it was also concerning that someone had decided to attack a planet that had a tendency to remain neutral.

"They seriously doubt it. Zhane said it's not their style, and it doesn't make any sense. That was why they left without alerting anyone on your team to the destruction. Andros said you guys had too much to worry about." Ashley told her

Kim smiled at her. "Well your husband is right. But if they find anything else out otherwise, they need to let us know."

"I'm sure they will." Ashley couldn't imagine that they'd want to take on Callisto and Rhianna's forces without the others involvement if it turned out they were the cause for the destruction.

Kim nodded. "Well." she stated prepared to switch topics. Although there was a lot to think about where the attack on Harpta was concerned she would do that later and not worry Ashley. "I think I'd like to finish up for the day. I have a date tonight."

"Have fun." Ashley replied giving her a sly grin. She signaled for her to take of with a wave of her hand, watching as she left before getting back to her own work.

* * *

Early that evening Jason found himself sitting at an outside table in an upscale café waiting for his date. He was finally going out with the actress Carri had insisted he see, not for his own amusement but to appease both her and Kim. Of course the actress was Emma Price, one of Hollywood's new young hot stars. Apparently she had been working in LA for Carri's father which is how they met.

He should be thrilled, most guys would die for the opportunity to meet her let alone date her. Had Carri set himself up a few months ago he imagined they would have gone on a few sizzling dates before his commitment to the rangers and her Hollywood status made them decide it was fun but not long term. But now things were different. Now he wasn't the least bit interested in dates with her.

Not that he wasn't interested in dates. The problem was there was only one woman he was interested in dates with and that was Emily. And considering they were both content with friendship that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. It was an odd situation. Jason would love to ask her out. The problem was, although he'd forgiven her for it, her last infidelity still rang out in the back of his mind. Although he thought he could love her again, he wasn't sure if he could trust her, not with his heart. So they would remain friends. He was good with female friends, although he didn't want to do to the other two what he wanted to do to Emily. Despite the fact that he wasn't going to act on those emotions he still hadn't the inclination to date anyone else.

Jason looked up in time to see Emma open the door. He looked over at her and smiled, and she smiled back giving him a little wave. Emma put her hand down finding herself quite pleased with the decision to come on this blind date. He lived up to his picture and from looking at his body, even if dinner was a bust she imagined they'd still have a good after party.

In all actuality Emma had been looking forward to the date. She was tired of the actors and tired of the boys she took out that spent the evening drooling all over her. She wasn't looking for anything major, but she wanted a fling with someone who wasn't her normal type of date. Someone she could have some good times with and a lot of good sex with.

Sharing some of these thoughts was what got her the date in the first place. She had been at a function for a television show she was shooting with Hilltop Productions. The show was shot in LA and when the first episode aired a few weeks ago they'd decided to throw the party in LA instead of at the production company's central location in New York. Company owner Jonathan Hillard was unable to attend the party so he sent the head of one of his smaller production companies as a representative in his place.

She bumped into the representative at the party. The representative happened to be Jonathan's daughter Carri, an up and coming producer and television show hostess who was about her age. Emma wasn't out to make friends but they started chatting. While they were talking they were bombarded by unwanted male attention. Most of it had been in Emma's direction, but Carri found herself swatting away some hormonal males as well. This opened up the dating discussion, and while Carri was quick to say that she had a boyfriend Emma confessed to being single and looking.

Without going over all the details Emma told her how she didn't want anything serious, just dates with a guy who would be alright with her stardom but not focus on it. Being a Hollywood starlet was who she was, and every guy knew it and did everything for her because of it. And although she loved all the perks that came with being a celebrity, she didn't want her boyfriends drooling over her because she was a celebrity. Carri mentioned that she knew a guy who was in need of some casual good times, and wasn't someone she'd have to worry about drooling over her. When she showed her a picture from her phone Emma found herself more than a little interested. After that it was just a matter of waiting for her to set up the date. She wasn't worried about him turning her down. Noone ever turned down Emma Price.

"Hi." Jason greeted giving her somewhat of a smile as she approached the table. "I'm Jason Scott."

"Emma Price." she replied as she stood there. She waited for a moment expecting him to pull the chair out for her, or at the very least stand up and greet her. When he did neither she went to sit herself. She'd let it slide for now. Perhaps he didn't know how to handle someone of her status. Besides if the sex was great she could take him on a few dates and ignore the rest of it.

Jason hailed the waitress who immediately rushed over to take Emma's drink order. "So." he stated once she left. Emma opened her menu and started to glance through it. Jason was trying to come up with what to say. He had already picked his meal as Emma had been late and he'd had plenty of time to figure out what he wanted. "Carri tells me you're working for her father." he started figuring that was a good a place as any to pick up the conversation.

Emma's eyes lit up. Talking about herself was where she shined. "I'm on his new hit drama on FOX. We are only the highest rated Monday night show." She paused to smile at Jason, who was biting his tongue to keep from mentioning that after only four shows it was quite possible that they were still riding on the new show high. "I of course am the star of the show. I've been doing movies before this as I'm sure you know but when the director asked me to be the female lead, I figured it was time to work toward my Emmy."

The waitress returned with her drink and Emma paused as she and Jason ordered their food. As the waitress left Emma turned to Jason. "So what do you do?" she questioned. Carri had been rather vague on his line of work and if she was going to do this more that once she wanted to make sure he could afford to keep up with her.

"Online investing." Jason gave the standard line and watched as her mouth formed the words "oh". He didn't know why he was about to justify his work to her but he suddenly felt the need to. "I don't know what you've heard but it's actually quite profitable."

"That's good." she replied. If it wasn't he wouldn't be able to afford to take her out. She watched as Jason turned his head to glare at all the photographers snapping their pictures around. "Don't worry about them. They're here for me. Everyone wants my picture for their magazine."

"Actually," Jason started but she interrupted him before he could say anything. He didn't appreciated getting interrupted. Especially with someone who was apparently more concerned with herself.

"I'm sure you've seen me in all the magazines. But I hope you ignore what you read in the tabloids. Most of it's false. I mean these," she paused momentarily putting her hand on her boobs, "are totally real. And I have way not slept with every cast member. Only one or two. But I am totally not dating any of them. I am way open for a boyfriend." At least a temporary one she thought as she put her hand up the table and slowly moved it up Jason's leg.

Jason sat straight up feeling quite uncomfortable. Sure she was a total knockout but she was completely full of herself and not the kind of girl he'd typically date. He was certain Carri knew this and was probably just sending him out for good times and casual sex. Which he appreciated the gesture but he didn't want to go down that road, not with her. He was going to try to make it through dinner where afterwards he would excuse himself and tell her he'd had a nice time and he had to go.

"Hopefully dinner arrives quickly because I have plans for us for tonight." Emma said with a wink as her hand landed in his lap

That was Jason's last straw. He wasn't going to sit there and tolerate the sexual advances. Not when that was the furthest thing from his mind. "You know what," Jason started as he removed her hand and pushed it aside, "this isn't going to work."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma asked glaring at him. Guys never said things like that to her. She took them out and did what she wanted with them and when she was ready she left them.

"That means," Jason said as he reached into his pocked and pulled out enough money to cover the food that they'd ordered, "I'm leaving." he finished as he stood and tossed the cash down onto the table

"What?" Emma snapped, seconds away from throwing a hissy fit. "You can't walk away from me. I'm Emma Price. Guys would die to date me and I want you. And in case your little friend didn't tell you I always get what I want."

"Well Emma Price, you're not getting me." Jason gruffly replied as he pushed passed her and headed for the café's exit, tuning out the temper tantrum she was throwing behind him

* * *

Carri drove home after a long day's work. When production was in full swing she'd often find herself with mounds of stuff to do. The only thing that kept her from going completely insane was the fact that Mollie was around to take care of all the little things.

That day had brought hours of revisions and changes on their current shoot in Sydney. Those took priority as the more she stalled the crew the more money they wasted and of course once they started wasting money they would only go downhill from there. So after hours of tedious sessions with the other three hosts and some of the crew they had finally gotten that straight and it was back to working on editing.

The editing was always hard work as they had to figure out where to cut footage and what footage they wanted to use. Sometimes it was enough to leave her cross-eyed. Fortunately once she decided what looked good and what didn't someone else took care of all the cutting and pasting and she was done with it until it went through the final run through. The editing had kept her there later than she would've liked with the mornings emergency meetings and now she was glad to be finally heading home as she had dinner plans with Rocky to get to.

Smashing the garage door opener she pulled into the driveway, bringing the car in and closing the garage door behind her. She climbed out of the car, thankful to be done for the day, and headed into the house. Throwing her stuff down she headed into the living room and was about to collapse on the couch before seeing her boyfriend sitting out on the back deck. Instead of sitting down inside she walked up to the door and slid it back, sneaking out and putting her arms around Rocky who glanced back in her direction.

"Hey." she greeted giving him a kiss before maneuvering to his side and slinking into the seat beside him

"Hey." he returned the greeting. "How was your day?"

"Fine. A lot of work. And yours?" she questioned continuing with the simple pleasantries

"Ok. It was actually kinda interesting." Rocky replied. He didn't know how to start the conversation about the tabloid article. She had to hear it though.

"Oh?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow. Half the time when he said interesting he meant he ran into Jessica. And if there was one thing she wasn't in the mood for it was Jessica. "If Jessica's pulling her shit again I might have to haul off and kill her."

"No it's not Jessica." He replied cursing to himself. She wasn't in the mood for bad news and what he had could only be classified as bad. She was going to kill something that was for sure. Of course in this case he almost agreed as he was furious with the article and the accusation that she was nothing more than a little slut. "It's actually..." he paused not knowing quite how to say it. Reaching down beside him he grabbed the tabloid. There was no way to brace her for it, she'd just have to see it. Taking the paper he tossed it into her lap. "Page thirteen." he said bracing himself for the fury that was about to be unleashed

Making a face Carri went to open it up. She sighed as nothing good ever came out of the tabloids. She couldn't help but wonder what this was about. Her brother or her father getting into more trouble? Or perhaps someone had discovered Jason's writing secret. As she flipped to page thirteen she took one look and turned her head to the sky, hands raised if she was going to strangle something as she let out an ear piercing scream.

"That slimy son of a bitch!" she yelled referencing the writer of the article. Sure she'd seen herself once or twice in the tabloids, and she expected to be in the tabloids, but not like this. This article was completely unsubstantiated, based only upon pictures of her with friends. "I'm going to fucking kill him!"

"Carri take a few deep breaths." Rocky said trying to calm her. But the point was lost as she flung the magazine down and ran inside. He stood up and followed her and as he entered she had her cell phone in one hand with the other firmly attached to her hip, her foot tapping while she figured out the best way to attack her prey.

"Have you seen it?" she greeted the person on the other end, completely skipping the hello, how are you or any other phrase one usually greeted someone they called with

"My assistant just showed it to me. I was going to call you." The man on the other end replied, assuming that she was referring to the tabloid article. "You know how I feel about that sort of stuff. It's not tolerated by any of my employees - especially my children."

"Dad!" she exclaimed angry that he even thought there was some sort of truth in this. "I've never dated Matt or Jason. You know Matt and Jason. You know that they're good friends of mine. You know my boyfriend, the only one I kissed in any of those photos."

Jonathan sighed. He hated seeing his children in the tabloids and he hated it even worse when stories were completely made up. "So you are assuring me that you've never had any romantic relationships with anyone other than Rocky?"

"Of course not." she snapped

"I believe you." He could understand why his daughter was angry but she need not snap at him. He needed to know the truth and then he could fix it.

"So then how do I make this disappear quickly?" she asked. The last thing in life she needed was the speculation that she was a little whore. She had enough to worry about without that following her around.

"I'll have my people issue a statement as soon as possible that says you're appalled by the article and that while you will admit to Rocky DeSantos being your boyfriend, Jason Scott and Matt Drake are nothing but old high school friends. If they want to dig through your records they can easily prove that you go back a long way with these guys and that it is likely that they are, in fact, old friends. You meanwhile need to sit back and relax, and realize that this sort of stuff happens."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it." Carri grumbled as her defenses fell and she collapsed onto the couch. "What about the prick that wrote the article?"

"We'll sue both him and the paper for deformation of character. I doubt it will go anywhere but at the very least we may be able to get both the writer and the paper to resend the article saying that they didn't have any proof. No tabloid is going to want to put that much money up for legal defenses on a matter this small."

"Fine." Although a visit from a ranger sounded better logic told her to go with her dad's idea.

Jonathan nodded. His daughter sounded defeated for the moment and that was good. It meant she wasn't about to rush off and do something stupid. She knew where these matters was concerned it was best to let him handle things. "I'll get things rolling on this. Ok?" he paused as she muttered an ok. "Love you."

"Love you too." she said with a sigh as she hung up the phone

Rocky went to take a seat beside his girlfriend, putting an arm around her. "Is your dad going to take care of it?"

"Yeah I guess so." she replied crossing her arms over her chest. She was still angry. This was her first huge scandal and it was more than a little infuriating, especially when none of it was in any way true. Her brother once said that after a while it quit bothering him. She hoped that was the case but she couldn't imagine not being angry.

"Does this mean no angry, vengeful power rangers out killing tabloid reporters?" Rocky questioned hoping to get a smile from her

"That's still to be determined." Carri replied. She waited for a moment before curling the corners of her lips up, indicating that she, in fact, was not going to kill the writer. At least not now anyway.

"It'll be fine." Rocky replied as he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I know who you're with. Our friends know who you're with. That's all that matters." he finished as he pulled her close and rested his chin on her head. "Now I say we not let this spoil our night and have those dinner plans we talked about."

"Agreed." she said simply, momentarily leaning into his embrace before standing up. She'd be damned if she'd let one lousy tabloid reporter ruin her evening.

* * *

Kim sat across from Tommy at a restaurant in Angel Grove. They had a candlelight dinner and it had been wonderfully romantic and were now waiting for the waiter to return with Tommy's credit card so they could continue on their evening.

"I'm glad we did this." Kim said smiling over at Tommy

Tommy watched as she smiled, noticing how the candlelight bounced off her face. She looked absolutely beautiful sitting there across from him. Not that she didn't always look beautiful but tonight, well tonight seemed special. "Me too." he agreed smiling back at her. Half the time it had been whatever they could pull together at home or dinner at Bulkmeier's. Not that he disliked either choice, but it was nice to have the opportunity to eat out with her in a more romantic setting where they didn't have to cook the food.

"You're going to have to take me out like this more often." Kim teased as the waiter returned, handing Tommy the folder with his credit slip in it

"We can't talk about the next date until this one's finished." Tommy said signing the check and putting it on the table

"It's not finished?" Kim questioned raising an eyebrow, watching as Tommy shook his head no. "What else did you have in mind?"

Tommy reached over and cupped her hand in his. "Let's go for a walk." he said as he stood, pulling her up with him and taking a firm hold of her hand. The lake wasn't too far from where they were and it was always beautiful at night. It had been a long time since they'd gone down there together and it was overdue.

The warm evening air hit their faces as they exited the restaurant hand in hand and headed down the street. It was a beautiful night, not a cloud in the sky. Stars were popping into view and they could see the moonlight glistening off the lake in the distance. It was absolutely perfect, and in this moment of perfection Kim started to allow her mind to wander.

It had been a whirlwind of activity for Kim from the moment she left Ashley's office. She had finished up work, ran home to Tommy, showered and changed, and headed to the restaurant. At the restaurant the atmosphere took over and she was content on spending the night with Tommy. But now in the peace and quiet of the evening air her mind was free to focus on other things. And as most times her mind was allowed to wander freely, her duty as a red was its main focus.

She couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Harpta. It could be serious, something some or all of Earth's team would need to get involved in. But of course it could be nothing, something random, perhaps something the leaders of Harpta caused and would need to take care of. Either way it was a concern as neutral planets, those without rangers and without wanted resources, were always left alone. Those out to conquer the galaxy were well aware that should they become leader, a neutral planet would easily sway their way without resistance as long as they left them be.

Pausing she thought about neutral planets in general, and couldn't help but wonder if Earth would've been better off if it had been neutral. Of course the people of Earth know nothing about intergalactic policy and still have trouble believing in aliens in general, despite the attacks over the years. They would ignore the fact that they had to pick anything, let alone neutral. Which is why it was for the best that Earth's fate was chosen for it. By Zordon calling the planet his home he put it firmly on the side of good. He was its guardian, there to pick its power rangers, teens that he knew would one day grow up to be important influences in the intergalactic community. And even if he didn't know all of what they'd become the power certainly did. Kim firmly believed that there were no accidents, that the power only touched the lives of those it deemed worthy.

With a sigh she left that line of thought and went back to her original problem. Tommy picked up on the sigh and let her hand go, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close as they approached the lake. "What are you thinking about over there."

"Nothing." Kim said absentmindedly before pulling herself back into reality. "It's just, I had a meeting with Ashley today."

"Work ok?" Tommy asked. He didn't think there were any problems at work. He certainly expected he would have heard by now.

"It has nothing to do with work. It's kind of ranger related." she explained

"How so?" Tommy asked. His interest was perked now. He knew that although Ashley wasn't involved, Andros was seriously involved in intergalactic matters. Anything that would be going on with them would be of interest to him.

"Andros, Zhane and Karone went to help out a friend of theirs. He was living on a planet that got attacked." Kim said as the whole situation played through her mind again

"You know as well as I do that attacks happen sometimes." Tommy pointed out. An attack on another planet, although serious, was something they couldn't run off and help out with whenever it happened. That's why other worlds had rangers.

"It was Harpta." Kim said turning toward Tommy, who raised his brow. He'd heard of it before but he couldn't quite place the name. "Tommy they're neutral. And they were almost leveled."

"Who would do something like that?" Tommy asked. It was certainly unusual for a neutral planet to be attacked. "They don't think it has anything to do with Callisto or Rhianna do they?"

"No they don't. And I'm inclined to agree. But still... this just can't be good. If there's someone out there causing damage like this, we're going to have to be on alert." Kim said. If they had a rogue villain out there somewhere it was definitely cause for concern.

"Agreed." Tommy replied simply as they stopped near the edge of the lake. "We'll send messages to Andros's ship. Hopefully he'll reply when he has something solid and this will turn out to be nothing we need to worry about."

Kim nodded. "That's probably the best thing to do for now."

"We'll go later." Tommy promised. "But for now I plan on making the most of this beautiful night with my beautiful woman." He said as he swiftly put both arms around her and pulled her body into his, leaning down and pressing their lips together in a passionate embrace.

Kim giggled like a school girl when he finally let up. She couldn't believe how he could bring her out here and make her feel sixteen all over again. Tommy grabbed her hand and led off, walking parallel with the water's edge. "Where are you going?"

"Our spot is right over here." Tommy replied pointing to an area in the not so far off distance

"Our spot?" Kim questioned briefly having no idea what he was referencing. "Oh." she said suddenly eyes lighting up with recognition. He was taking her to the spot they spent many nights as teenagers. Kim giggled once more as she couldn't help but wonder what Tommy had in mind.

* * *

Emily sat on a barstool waiting for Jason to arrive. He had called her earlier and asked her if she wanted to meet at their spot. She was surprised, he'd told her he had plans that night. But when they spoke on the phone he said his plans had been a mess and he wanted to come hang out with her, and she was more than happy to say yes.

They had gotten together almost every night since their first dinner. It was amazing to spend time with Jason again. Talking to him and having good times with him reminded her of being together. Even the two times he had gotten paged to save the world had brought back fond memories. She had stayed behind in the bar and watched intently on the television as the black ranger and his friends did their duty to save the world.

Him running off didn't bother her as much as it did when she was younger. Being a ranger was a part of who he was, a part of who he'd always be and she was coming to accept that. And the more she thought about it the more she thought about how her acceptance of him being a ranger was what was making the old feelings that were resurfacing stronger than before. But she continued to squash those feelings. They were friends and they would only be friends. She took care of that herself years ago. And although she yearned for something more she was quite happy to be friends with him, as friends was better than the cold shoulder she'd gotten for years.

Besides Jason seemed to be interested in other things. At least according to the papers. She had an article shoved in her pocket, one someone at work had brought to her attention. It was from a tabloid, one that featured Carri with several different men including Jason. She was kind of surprised, it was no secret that he and Carri were close friends but she never thought they had that kind of relationship. Jealousy had also surfaced upon viewing the article. He was seeing Carri in the way that she wanted to see him. They were friends and she had no right to be jealous, but she couldn't help it. Seeing him with her was hard to swallow.

"Hey Em." Jason greeted as he sat down next to her and hailed the bartender for a beer. He was glad that he'd cut the night with Emma short. Carri was probably going to kill him but he'd much rather spend time with Emily. He wasn't going to tell her that, he was going to tell her that her actress had been snooty and stuck up and not even worth a date for the sex. He glanced over at Emily and smiled as his beer was placed in front of him. Taking a drink he went to speak again. "What's going on?"

"Oh not much." Emily replied. "I worked all day." she said pausing for a second. "I saw you in the paper today."

Jason almost choked on his beer. There were very few reasons if any for him to be in the paper and he wasn't sure it was in any way a good thing. "Really? For what?"

Emily reached into her pocked and pulled out the article, unfolding it between them so they could both get a good look at it.

"Oh shit." Jason said glancing it over. Carri was going to kill someone if she hadn't already.

"I didn't know you two were going out." Emily said casually. She was hoping to get some details out of him as she really wanted to know.

"She's with Rocky. I'm not seeing anyone." Jason corrected as he started to read the article

"Oh." Emily said a bit more cheerfully than she intended. Since they'd been hanging out they hadn't specifically talked about their current love lives. She was glad to hear that he was currently single. Not that she had any plans to move in on him, but she was glad to hear that no other woman did either. "So what about that?" she asked pointing to the article

Jason waited a moment before answering as he decided he'd seen enough of the article to get the gist. "That will be taken care of I'm sure. Carri won't tolerate it. She'll clear all our names."

"Hopefully you don't get a bad reputation from it." Emily said. She certainly didn't want people thinking he was one of her three boyfriends.

"I'm not the one who's in the spotlight and has to care." Jason pointed out as he smiled and took another sip of his beer. "Besides Carri's not exactly ugly. Most guys are going to want to be me." he paused for a second before turning toward Emily and grinning. "And most girls are going to see my picture and want to be with me so it's a win-win situation."

"Jason!" Emily exclaimed swatting him on the shoulder and grinning back at him.

"What? I can't help that I'm good looking." he said sitting up a little straighter and pushing his shoulders back, his head held high in the air.

Emily couldn't help but laugh. "I think you're just full of yourself." she joked, ignoring the fact that he did look really good sitting beside her

Jason laughed as well as he relaxed. "If you say so." Taking a sip of his beer he looked around the small bar and grill and noticed that one of it's two pool tables had just been vacated. "Let's shoot pool." he suggested

"I don't know Jase I'm not very good." Emily replied. It would certainly be fun but she wasn't sure if he'd enjoy putting up with her lack of skill for too long.

"I'm no pool shark." he said with a laugh. He'd played a few times in bars and was decent enough but he certainly wouldn't stake anything on a game. Looking over at Emily he could tell she was still reluctant. "Come on it'll be fun. And I may just let you win."

"Or I may just cream you." she said with a laugh

"I take it you're in?" Jason questioned

"Why not." she said as she sild off the bar stool, heading over to the pool table and motioning for Jason to follow

Jason grinned as he jumped up and headed after her. This was going to be much more fun than the night he would've had with Emma Price.

* * *

Andros, Karone and Zhane sat on Harpta on what was their late afternoon and Angel Grove's next morning. They had just finished helping Ryley, an old family friend, pick up the debris that remained of his home and try to get the rest of it in order and were now taking a break and enjoying a traditional Kaoan beverage.

"Thank you so much for coming to help us. My family owes you a debt." Ryley said as he looked over the trio. He had grown up with Andros and Karone's parents and had been there for them since they were children, and had known Zhane almost as long. He had been "Uncle Ryley" and he loved it as at the time he didn't have a family of his own. He always remembered being involved with everything they did, from the good times, the birthday's the celebrations, to the worst like Karone's kidnaping.

Andros shook his head no. "You've been there for us through everything. Of course we'd come to your aid when you needed us." He felt as though he was paying back some unspoken debt for everything Ryley had done for him growing up.

"This was a horrible tragedy. Hopefully we can now put it behind us." Ryley replied. They had cleaned up his home, patched up most of the structural damage and hopefully things on the usually peaceful Harpta would get back to normal.

"Who did this?" Karone asked as she leaned into the table and looked at Ryley. They hadn't spoken much of the tragedy but she was desperate for answers to help keep it from happening again. "This is Harpta. You're neutral. These things don't happen. Someone must've done something..."

"That's unlikely." Ryley replied shaking his head no. "We pride ourselves in staying out of intergalactic affairs. That's why I moved here. After the attack on KO-35, well I just didn't want to suffer through that again. Some monster must've randomly attacked. It's the only think that makes since."

Karone looked at him and shook her head no but didn't say anything. There was no way this was random. From her days as Astronema she knew that you don't waste your energy on a planet that will easily fall in line when you take power. You used your resources on planets who were going to fight back, planets with rangers and other protectors that stood in the way of your rule. There was no need to attack a planet that would blindly follow you.

"Noone has officially said anything?" Zhane questioned. He would have imagined that the king would have given his people something, anything to calm their fears after what happened.

"If the king knows anything he hasn't said." Ryley replied shaking his head

Andros thought for a moment before speaking. "We need an audience with the king."

"I doubt that the king will have time to see anyone with all he has to deal with, especially outsiders." Ryley pointed out

"We're power rangers." Karone said, ignoring the fact that Zhane was the only one with a current morpher and she had only ever been a replacement ranger. "If there's something going on here he'll want us involved."

Ryley raised an eyebrow. "He especially won't want to see power rangers. As you know that breaks our neutrality."

"It appears to have already been broken." Andros said, watching as Karone and Zhane nodded in agreement

Ryley let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. We shall finish up here and I will take you to the palace. But I cannot guarantee that the king will be willing to see you."

"It will be worth a try." Zhane said. They quickly finished up their beverages and finished the remainder of the small tasks before heading off to the palace.

* * *

When they arrived at the palace they were immediately stopped by one of the kings guards. Ryley looked around surprised, the palace wasn't usually so high in security. He imagined that the attack had something to do with it. He found himself worrying that if there were so many guards around the king that there might be more to this than he thought.

"What is your business here?" the guard questioned glancing from one of the four strangers to the next

"My friends here request to speak to the king." Ryley said giving the guard a polite smile

"The king is not seeing any visitors." the guard said sharply. "Please return to your homes." Although the phrase was polite his stance was not, as he immediately went to battle mode holding his staff across the body to indicate he would attack should they not comply.

"Certainly. We are sorry for the interruption." Ryley said turning to leave and indicating that the others should follow. This wasn't a good idea and he knew it.

"We're not leaving. We're power rangers. We've come to see if there's anything we can do to help." Andros said, refusing to turn around. He wasn't afraid of the guard. If he went to attack the three of them could easily defend themselves.

The guard looked at them for a moment before gesturing to another one of the guards to come over there. He whispered something to him and the second guard took off, leaving the first still standing there looking as though he was ready to attack. For the next few moments it felt like a stand off, with the trio and the guard locked in position, ready to jump into action if necessary. Finally the second guard came back and whispered something to the first, who nodded and spoke. "The king will see you. Follow him."

"Thank you." Andros replied as he, Karone and Zhane followed the second guard, leaving Ryley standing in front of the palace

They were woven through the palace, around areas that had been destroyed from the attack. Finally they were brought into a small room where the king sat at the head of a table. He glanced up when they entered. The rangers looked at him, not missing the fact that the events of the last two days had taken it's toll on the leader.

"I am King Rinnini." he spoke as he briefly looked them over. "And you are... power rangers?" he questioned making sure he understood

"I'm Andros, former Red Astro Ranger and these are my teammates Zhane and Karone." he introduced them, sparing the King the exact details of who had what morphers

"Come, sit." the King said gesturing to the seats around him. He never thought he'd need the help of the power rangers but here he was inviting them to sit down at his table. They were the only beings on the universe that could stop the destruction that started on Harpta. "The destruction that you see here - it is noone's fault but my own."

"I don't understand." Andros said simply. There was a pause and the three rangers anxiously looked at the King, waiting for him to continue.

"Cratus attacked our peaceful planet because of information I held." King Rinnini replied, the sorrow showing heavily in his voice

Zhane gasped. "Cratus?" he repeated. That was definitely not good news. He found himself more eager to find out exactly what was going on and if and how it related to the conflicts back on Earth.

"Yes." Rinnini said nodding his head. "He was here doing Callisto's bidding, looking for the Shadow Crystal."

"What's the Shadow Crystal?" Andros questioned, not missing the fact that his sister's eyes lit up with recognition

"The Shadow Crystal? You know where it is? You didn't tell him did you?" Karone questioned. She didn't know much of it, only what she had learned from time spent with Callisto. The Shadow Crystal not only held great powers of its own but it was the key to a grander power. The power was so unstable that noone dared to go after it but Callisto had always had her eye on it. If Callisto were to take in those powers she would become virtually unstoppable.

"I take it you know of it." Rinnini said glancing over at Karone

"I know a little." she replied

"The Shadow Crystal hasn't been seen for centuries. The last evil being that used it imploded due to the instability of the different powers he was trying to combine. When he imploded the crystal broke into four pieces. Part of the team of ancient rangers he was fighting grabbed the pieces of the crystal and took off before his minions could recover them." Rinnini paused momentarily, taking a deep breath as he looked over the rangers. "The ancient rangers knew what kind of power the crystal held, and how dangerous it would be if the four pieces were to be reunited and absorbed by another evil being."

"So they hid them?" Zhane questioned as Rinnini paused again

"Yes." Rinnini answered, going on to elaborate. "Four of the rangers each took a piece, hiding them and telling noone of the location, not even each other. Eventually they decided that the information needed to be entrusted to others and wiped from their memory so the evil doers would have no idea where to find the crystal. Each of the four rangers took their information to the four corners of the universe, intrusting four different royal families to the location of one of the pieces. When they returned the memory of the crystal was magically wiped from them and its location was never spoken of again."

"And your family was one of the families who knew about it?" Karone questioned. If that was the case it made perfect sense why Cratus attacked.

"It was passed down from king to king, spoken aloud once then never mentioned again." Rinnini confirmed

"Did you tell Cratus where it was?" Andros questioned. This was important. If Cratus knew the location of a crystal they would be in trouble.

"I had to spare my people. Cratus said the destruction would continue until either the planet was gone or I gave him something." King Rinnini said, hanging his head in shame. "I didn't give him the exact location, but the clues I gave him, he'll find it eventually."

"Tell us." Karone encouraged. If they could get there before Cratus perhaps this disaster would be averted. "We can help."

Rinnini nodded. "I can give you the information of the shard my family has been guarding. With the direct location you should be able to easily arrive before Cratus."

"What about the other pieces?" Andros asked. One shard was good, but he'd like for them to find all four. He didn't want Callisto to have any of them. "Do you know where they are? Has Cratus found them?"

"I only know of my own shard." Rinnini explained. He thought hard about Cratus's visit, trying to think of anything that could help. "I am almost positive that Cratus does not have the location of any of the other pieces, but I believe he knows the kingdom's that do. While I cannot give you that information, it is possible there is someone who can."

"How? I thought you said that the rangers didn't tell anyone else." Zhane didn't think that it made any sense. Either noone knew or someone knew, but not both.

"The ancient rangers former mentor may know. He is the being that wiped their memories clean of the knowledge of the shards location and it is said he was able to retain that information. The rumor is that the being does not live on our plane and is thousands of years old, but still exists and is currently guarding the remains of the ancient base the rangers used. Noone knows for sure but those on the side of good that have been near the grounds have seen the signs, felt some sort of presence there. Those who are evil have not been able to get close. But he has not shown himself since the original ranger team perished and noone knows how to reach him."

Zhane glanced curiously at Rinnini. "So you're saying that this guy may still be alive but we can't see him and we can't get a hold of him?"

"It's worth a try." Andros said stopping Zhane's skepticism short. "If he's there guarding the base then he must know what's going on. Maybe he'll let us get close and speak with us. We should stop Cratus first, then see if we can go after this information. Without it we won't know where Cratus is going next unless we wait for him to attack another planet."

"He's right." Karone chimed in. "We have to do it, what do we have to loose."

Zhane sighed. "Ok. But I think before we go we need to let the Earth team know what's going on. This directly involves them and we may need their help." More specifically he wanted to make sure Kim and Carri knew as this was their original mission and they would directly want to be involved in this.

"I agree. But the ship's communications aren't working and I don't know if we have time to go back to Earth." Andros pointed out. When they arrived on Harpta there had been a lot of debris floating around from Cratus's attack. The ship got a few dings on the way in, one of which hit in the right spot to disable their communications. He hadn't even been able to send word to his wife that he'd arrived safely.

"Earth isn't too far off course." Rinnini assured him. "If you have friends there that can help you may want to stop briefly and speak with them. You should still beat Cratus to the location if you act quickly."

"Great. Then tell us what we need to know and we'll be off." Karone said crossing her arms and glancing at the King. She was more than ready to take this mission head on and do some good, especially against Callisto. When she was Astronema the goddess was her friend, and ever since she turned good she wanted the opportunity to stop her. She knew the ideas she had, what she was capable of, more so than the rangers did. She also knew that she would have to be destroyed.

King Rinnini nodded before quickly giving the three rangers the information they would need. They thanked him and ran off, heading toward the ship. Stopping briefly they said goodbye to Ryley then took off to try and intercept Cratus.

* * *

As the Megaship Mark II was barreling toward Earth, the planet's two female rangers found themselves in the middle of an upscale shopping mall. It was a trip that had been arranged by Carri, and although she had a lot on her mind Kim agreed to go. Besides Carri had insisted that she couldn't go alone, and Kim figured that they usually had fun shopping together and she needed a little bit of fun. Not that she didn't have plenty of fun with Tommy the night before, but the kind of fun she had with Carri satisfied much different needs than the kind of fun she had with Tommy.

"So that's my pain in the ass story." Carri finished explaining the tabloid situation as she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "So as you can see I need this shopping trip to let out a little steam."

"It'll be fine. Your dad put out the press release last night right?" Kim questioned pausing as Carri nodded her head yes. "So there's nothing else you can do."

"It still sucks." she pointed out as they entered a small clothing store. "I mean come on, you're not the least bit angry that they insinuated that your boyfriend was one of my flavors of the week?" After she and Rocky had dinner and she decided she could glance at the article without breaking something, she finally decided to read it all the way through. She was a bit surprised by Tommy's mention. Not counting ranger meetings she maybe saw him once or twice without Kim around.

Kim turned toward Carri and gave her a sly grin. "It doesn't bother me. I know who Tommy goes home to at night." The two girls laughed and once they quieted down Kim spoke again. "It'll be forgotten. And you'll get more famous and you'll get used to seeing things like that in the tabloids."

Carri snorted. "Yeah that's what Josh said. I was getting my feet wet."

"You spoke to Josh?" Kim questioned. It's not that she didn't think that the two siblings had spoken to each other since they split, but this was the first time she'd openly talked about it.

"Yeah. He called after he found out. He lectured me until I reminded him that he was a tabloid playboy. He said not to worry about what they say and that you just have to set the record straight and move on." Carri replied, coming to the realization as well that it was the first time she'd spoken of her brother with Kim since they split almost four months ago.

"He's right." Kim replied nodding. She thought for a moment before she asked her next question. "How's he doing?"

"Who Josh?" Carri asked as Kim gave her a smile and a nod. "He's doing good. Work's fine. He's totally moved on and over you if that's what you're asking."

Kim looked at Carri. She did care about Josh, they dated and had quite an intense affair. And when you care so much about someone it doesn't go away just because you stop seeing them. She didn't care who he was dating and she certainly didn't love him. She was in love with Tommy, they had a complete relationship. She could see spending the rest of her life with him, well the rest of his at least. Now she had Carri thinking she still had romantic feelings about Josh. She didn't know how to correct that so she opened her mouth and words started spewing. "No it's not. I mean that's great that he is but you know we dated and I mean"

Carri cut her friend off before she could ramble any more. "Relax. He asks about you too in a non-sexual way. Just because you're not breaking beds together anymore doesn't mean he hates you."

Kim's cheeks grew red as she remembered the night Carri was referencing. "For the record the bed's more steady now that they fixed it than it was before we broke it." The one and only positive that came out of breaking Carri's bed, the one left to her by her grandmother.

Carri let out a laugh. "That may be true but." she stopped short as her phone went off. Quickly she pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. "It's Emma Price."

"Who?" Kim questioned

"The actress I set Jase up with." Carri replied

"Well see how it went." Kim gestured for her to pick up the phone

Carri nodded and went to answer while Kim continued to browse around the store. She looked at a few shirts and watched as Carri picked absentmindedly at the fabric of the top she stopped in front off before wincing and holding the phone out to a distance. Kim couldn't understand what was being said, or rather yelled, but from the look on Carri's face it wasn't pleasant.

A few seconds later the phone went back up to Carri's ear. Kim turned back to shopping as the conversation continued on a more civil level. As Kim was beginning to think everything was settled she and the rest of the store heard Carri curse out loud. Kim's wasn't the only head that snapped in her direction, watching as she rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. Once it was obvious that there wasn't going to be any sort of issue in the store, the other patrons turned away and Kim walked over to her friend.

"What was that all about?" Kim questioned raising her eyebrow

"Apparently they went out to dinner. And things seemed nice. They ordered drinks, talked, ordered food, and Jason threw cash on the table and walked out." Carri said with a sigh. "And since nobody refuses Emma Price not only is Jason on her personal shit list but she's going to quit dad's show if he doesn't disown me and close my company, since I was the one who introduced her." She'd seen enough drama in the last twenty four hours to make her head explode. The last thing she needed that morning was Emma Price. She wasn't worried about her, her temper wouldn't amount to anything. But it was the fact that it was piled on top of everything else that made her mad.

"What's your dad going to say?" Kim questioned. The last thing she needed was difficulty credited to Jason.

"To shut up and get her skanky ass back to the set. Well not like that. But she's not stupid enough to be labeled impossible to work with over a bad blind date. It would halt her career before she ever got it started." Carri said. At least she didn't think she was that stupid. Only time would tell.

Kim shook her head. "Well just from that conversation I can see the qualities in her that would make Jason leave mid date."

"I knew she wasn't - well you know - perfect, but I thought she and Jase would have a good time at least. I had no idea she was that kind of bitch." Carri replied. She expected her to be the snooty thinks she's better than everyone else Hollywood type. But she didn't quite expect the high and mighty five year old temper tantrum gets her way type.

"If we're going to help Jason get dating again we should find someone that's the relationship type, not the a few good nights of sex type." Kim pointed out. She thought it was a good idea at first to set Jason up with Emma, but now not so much. After Michelle, Jason needed a good solid relationship. One with a woman who wouldn't mind his sudden "work" departures.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Carri questioned

"Actually I do. There's this girl at work he might like. I'll talk to her and see if she's interested." Kim had spoken frequently to the woman who worked as Ashley's public relations associate. She was a year or two older than them and single, and she thought her personality would match Jason's well.

"So set it up." Carri replied. She had failed but hopefully Kim could do better.

"I will Monday. For now," Kim paused as she grabbed the shirt that Carri and spent the past five minutes playing with, "you should try this on. It would look really good on you."

"Agreed." Carri said with a smile as she took the shirt from Kim. It was time to relax and do what they came out to do in the first place.

* * *

Callisto sat in a normally unused room of the Lunar Palace, staring at a blank screen as she thought about the transmission she just received. She slowly sat up and turned off the small communications panel. Cratus was actually getting somewhere now. He'd practically destroyed Harpta to find clues to the location of the first piece. But he had gotten them. He was certain that this time wasn't a wild goose chase, and that by the dawn of the next day he'd have one of the pieces in his possession.

He also had information on where the other pieces were. Or at least he had a list of about a half dozen planets to attack to obtain that information from. He said he could figure out quickly which kings had useful information and which ones didn't. He knew from the start that King Rinnini was holding back, which made the systematic attacks on his planet all the more pleasant.

Callisto was pleased that she had Cratus on her side. He was quite competent, stronger than most and had a keen sense for destruction. It was hard to find good help like that. She was one of the lucky ones. She watched over the years at what some of her evil colleagues had put up with. Goldar was nothing but a suck up. Rito and Elgar, well words couldn't express how completely and utterly pathetic they were. Some warriors were decent, but even Ecliptor and Darkonda couldn't stack up to the work Cratus was doing now.

And when he was successful as she now believed he would be, she would have the ability to turn Rhianna into the ultimate weapon, the ultimate tool of destruction against the power rangers. Finally she would have the revenge that she so rightly deserved. Whatever mortal came up with "revenge is a dish best served cold" deserved to be in one of the deepest circles of hades. Obviously they had not waited so long for destruction they desired.

Of course now that Cratus had caused a ruckus on Harpta the intergalactic community would be buzzing. She knew what others would say. Who attacks a neutral planet. Except they weren't really neutral. They guarded information for the power rangers. That made them good and that made them worth attacking. Sadly the general public wouldn't know that and word would spread quickly. There was no telling how long it would be before someone alerted a team of power rangers. The important thing was that it wouldn't be her team of rangers that got involved. Let the Nova's or Aquitarians step in and help with the relief and attempt to right the wrongs, as long as they decided not to bother the rangers of Earth with it. Earth's rangers had to be focused on the fact that there were bigger fish to fry at home, and that they couldn't worry about everything in the galaxy. Hopefully by the time they were swayed to be concerned Cratus will have returned and it will be too late.

It would be up to her to keep reminding them this. And as she was in such a good mood, she felt as though now would be a good a time as any to go down to the surface and raise hell. It didn't matter what damage she caused, she'd get her way shortly. But for now it was time to collect Rhianna and her Cirranadrones and go have a little fun.

* * *

Tommy found himself teleporting back to the Command Chamber a few hours after he and Kim had left the last time. They had sent word to the Megaship the previous night after their encounter on the lake. They hadn't heard anything back immediately so they went home and went to sleep, heading back first thing the next morning to see if they had gotten any messages. There was still nothing, and when Billy and Trini arrived to check other things out and do some modifications they assured him they'd keep an eye out and let him know the minute they got news. Kim had gone shopping right after they got back leaving Tommy home alone, and he finally found himself not being able to bare sitting there waiting any longer.

"What are you doing back?" Billy questioned as he saw Tommy's form materialize in front of him. He told him he'd let him know if he heard anything. There wasn't much Tommy could do.

"I couldn't wait. I want to find some answers." Tommy replied. The more he thought about it the more it bothered him. He had to know who attacked Harpta and why.

Trini looked up and glanced over at Tommy. "Andros may not have gotten the message. If they went to see their friend it's possible that they've been on the planet's surface all night and have yet to realize you sent them a communication."

"If the Megaship isn't responding there has to be another way to get answers." Tommy said pausing to think for a moment. "I would think there would be whispers in the intergalactic community, contacts we could call."

"Kim's the one with all the contacts." Billy pointed out. His only contacts were on Aquitar, and those had diminished since his departure years ago. He was pretty certain that although Tommy was top in the ranger community on Earth, his reach didn't stretch that far into the galaxy. Thanks to Kim's travels, she was the ranger who was intergalactically respected and had contacts from planets all over she could speak with. "Where is Kim? Perhaps she can attempt to get in touch with some of Harpta's neighboring planets."

"Shopping with Carri." Tommy grumbled. He suggested to her that morning that she contact everyone she knew to get information. She sent a general signal out for information and said that if anyone knew anything they'd reply. But she doubted Harpta was going to send word around the galaxy, and if they did give out details of the incident Andros, Zhane and Karone would be among the first to know and if it was important they would immediately get back to them. "I think she wants to wait for word from the others."

"If Kim thinks it's ok to wait maybe she's right. After all it doesn't make sense for it to be something huge we'd need to be involved in." Trini pointed out. "Besides until someone gets back to us with information, there's not much we can do."

"I suppose." Tommy replied. Trini was right. No villain seemed to be jumping up taking responsibility for the attack. And since noone has replied to Kim's inquiry for information they couldn't do anything until they heard from Andros. It was possible that if it were something serious, the Megaship and it's passengers could be in trouble. Which is why he decided to give Andros twenty-four hours to respond. If he hadn't heard anything, the team would have to go investigate to make sure all was well.

"You should go relax." Billy suggested. "Trini and I are going to remain here for a while longer. And when we leave I'll put the communications systems on alert. Any messages we receive will go straight to me and I will notify you and Kim immediately." There was no need for the leader of the rangers to be hanging around the Command Chamber. There was nothing for him to do as he and Trini were just finishing up a few upgrades and then leaving. Him standing there wasn't going to get a response any faster.

"Yeah I guess." Tommy thought for a moment. As the leader of the rangers he wouldn't be able to relax. Not until he knew that whatever happened on Harpta was under control and that Andros, Zhane and Karone were fine. He thought for a moment before deciding to go see Hayley, see what she was working on. It was better than sitting at the apartment.

Before he could say goodbye to Trini and Billy, the Command Chamber's alarms started going off. Tommy turned as Billy pulled the disturbance up on screen. He let out a sigh as he saw Callisto, Rhianna and a small army of Cirranadrones waiting for them. They hadn't been bothered by the goddess herself in a while and all of the sudden she'd been attacking with a vengeance the last week or two. Sometimes she'd come by herself, but most of the time she brought Cirranadrones along with her as well as Rhianna, and a few times they'd faced monsters. That was something else he was concerned about as the team's leader. With the frequency of attacks there had to be something going on, something Callisto had in the wings waiting for the opportune time. He just couldn't figure out what it was. He had a bad feeling he wouldn't know until she hit them with it.

But for now he couldn't worry about that. Or what was going on in Harpta. He had to worry about Callisto, who had already set a tree on fire in the park. "Alert the others. I'm going down." Tommy said. He glanced over at Billy who was already sending pages out to the rest of the team. Not wasting time, Tommy reached for his morpher and transformed, teleporting down to the park.

* * *

Tommy was the first of the rangers to arrive on the scene. He was surprised to see Goldar teleport in behind the others. That was a figure he hadn't seen in a while. He was even more surprised to see the dirty look Callisto shot him.

Goldar hadn't missed her look. But she had taken Rhianna under her wing and he came with Rhianna, and for that he wasn't worried about her retaliating. He had come down to the surface because he was simply sick and tired of being told to stay in the castle and guard things. He was a warrior, an excellent warrior, one who had once been feared and respected throughout the galaxy. It was his defeats at the hands of these rangers that diminished his status and he hated them for it. He wanted nothing more to destroy them and he wasn't going to stand by any longer and let Callisto have all the fun.

"Goldie, Calli, how great to see you both. I didn't know I was going to get to kick both your asses today." Carri said as she and Kim materialized on either side of Tommy.

Tommy shot her a look seconds before Callisto hurled a fireball at them causing them to scatter. She seemed to have a knack for knowing how to get fireballs hurled in their general direction.

"I think we need a monster." Callisto said with a snarl, glancing over at Rhianna. She wanted it to just be her battle, but between Goldar and Carri she was more than a little upset and she wanted to just finish them and be done with it.

"What about this?" Rhianna questioned as she turned her staff on a toy left by a child as it's parents scooped it up and ran upon their arrival

"Oh my god is she serious?" Carri asked as she watched the stuffed golden retriever change into a monster. Cute stuffed dogs weren't exactly ferocious killing machines.

"Yeah I believe so." Kim replied as the three of them moved back in formation

Once the transformation was complete the dog monster looked at them and barked, the waves from his voice enough to throw the rangers up into the air and backwards, slamming them hard into the ground.

"I'm completely serious." Rhianna replied with a laugh. The dog had a killer bark and deadly claws, enough to give the rangers a run for their money.

Jason and Rocky teleported to the scene in time to help the others pick themselves up off the ground. "Is everyone ok?" Jason asked

"Yeah just watch out for Cujo over there." Carri said

"He looks all cute and cuddly." Rocky said as he got a good look at the monster

Kim shook her head. "Not so much. Trust us."

"It doesn't matter what he looks like. We just need to worry about finishing him." Tommy said gruffly. He agreed, the cute retriever wasn't frightening by appearance. But it wasn't worth dwelling over as he obviously carried some serious firepower.

"Not a problem." Carri said as she called on her weapons. She hated when her shopping got interrupted and wanted to make this fight quick and painless.

Kim was quick to call on her weapons as well. "Let's make dog meat out of him."

The two girls rushed off to fight the retriever, leaving the guys there to watch as they attacked and were painfully clawed back. After making sure they both pulled themselves back to their feet, the boys called on their weapons and went to attack as well. Tommy went to tackle the goddess while Jason took a swing at Goldar and Rocky went after Rhianna and the Cirranadrones.

It only took a few minutes for them to realize that the fight wasn't going exactly how they wanted it too. Jason was the only one who was going on business as usual as a fight with Goldar hadn't changed much in almost fifteen years. Although a fight with Callisto hadn't changed much either, Tommy didn't find himself with much of an opportunity to fight as most of the battle was spent with him dodging her fireballs. Encounters with Rhianna had drastically changed over the last few months as she was learning to use the powers she was born into. And she didn't fight like her comrades did but she had enough power to give Rocky a tough time without ever laying a hand on him.

As for the monster, well it had been the benefactor of Rhianna's powers as well. Neither Kim nor Carri could get close as the encounters with it's claws packed quite a punch. Kim shot arrows from afar as Carri shot her pistol, both maneuvers effective until the dog monster decided to let out a bark. They needed one giant show of firepower to take the monster down, something they couldn't get without the full force of their team. Whether or not it was a good idea, they decided to abandon the monster for the moment and assist the others. If they could make everyone else go away they could all concentrate on the monster.

Lending a hand to their boyfriends, Carri attacked Rhianna from behind while Kim went after Callisto. Carri's attack threw Rhianna forward as she wasn't expecting another ranger. Furious Rhianna turned toward the yellow ranger and used her magic to suspend her in the air while paralyzing her. Rocky seized the moment and attacked her as well before becoming on the receiving end of another magical attack that stopped him dead in his tracks and went straight to his head, causing him to grab his helmet in pain.

Fortunately Kim had seen her friend suspended in the air and momentarily levitated herself up, shooting a few arrows at an unsuspecting Rhianna. Once the witch was hit, Rocky's pain lessened until it finally disappeared and Carri fell to the ground like a lead weight. Kim turned toward Callisto just in time to see the barrage of fireballs coming toward her. She managed to maneuver out of the way of the fireballs but not the goddess's wrath as she found herself flung through the air, landing at the feet of the dog who was kind enough to swat her away. As Kim gripped her sides in pain she decided she'd had enough. Although she hadn't accessed it's full power she certainly had access to enough of it, and she held her hand high as she waited for her Phaedosian staff to fall into it. Staff in hand she went first to take a swipe at Rhianna before she could get Rocky, who was helping Carri up. Then she turned all her attention toward Callisto.

With Rhianna momentarily out of it the two rangers seized the moment and attacked with everything they had, not given her a chance to access her magic. Being young and inexperienced, Rhianna felt helpless at the bottom of the pile of angry rangers and teleported herself back home. Goldar caught a glimpse of what was going on and he followed her, figuring his fight with Jason was going nowhere quickly anyway.

Jason went to join the fight against Callisto while Rocky and Carri quickly polished off the remainder of the Cirranadrones. As soon as they were finished they went to bring their fight to the goddess as well, all of them still ignoring the monster that was getting his jollies in slashing the rangers around when he could.

Callisto fought the rangers fiercely, enjoying the attack as she was able to send rangers flying in all directions. Of course there were now five rangers, which was more than she was in the mood to deal with. After she decided she'd used up all the fun she wanted to have for the day she quickly got bored throwing the rangers around, as well as tired of being on the wrong end of their weapons. They didn't damage her, but they weren't pleasant either. She threw a few fireballs to scatter them before taking off for the palace herself.

The rangers stood up slowly. It had been a long day and a hard battle and they were more than ready to call it quits. But they were all well aware that there was one more battle to fight and they regrouped and stared at the golden retriever. "Let's do this." Tommy said, wanting to end the battle as much as the others did

Before they had a chance to attack the dog barked at them louder than he ever had before. The rangers were suddenly flung to the ground with brute strength. Carri balled her hand into a fist and hit it against the grass as they were all slow to get up. "That's it let's hit Cujo with everything we've got."

"I agree." Tommy said as they called on their weapons, including a newer and more powerful version of the Power Cannon that Billy had recently gotten up and running.

After hitting the monster with blasters and individual weapons, they got him to stumble long enough for them to all pull together and fire the cannon. It was more than enough to knock the dog off his feet and bring him down. With Rhianna up in the palace pouting and not paying much attention, the monster stayed down allowing the rangers to quietly slip away.

* * *

The rangers teleported to the Command Chamber, tired and sore from their previous battle. They had been victorious, but the price of victory seemed to be getting higher as Rhianna's magic grew and Callisto became more focused and driven. They were all in silent agreement that all they wanted to do was get healed and relax.

Much to their surprise when they teleported in they found that they had visitors. "What are you guys doing here? And why haven't you contacted us?" Kim asked quickly bombarding them with questions

"Our communications have been down. But we had to come see you." Andros quickly replied. Kim appeared as though she had some knowledge of what was going on which was good. They couldn't afford to waste time starting from the beginning.

"What happened on Harpta?" Kim questioned. The urgency in Andros's voice had her concerned. Whatever was going on it was obvious that it wasn't good.

"Harpta was attacked by Cratus. He practically destroyed the place." Zhane jumped in

Carri held a finger up to stop them before they could continue. "Harpta? Cratus? What the hell is going on here?"

Karone looked at her curiously, surprised that neither Kim nor Tommy had bothered filling her in. Or Jason or Rocky for that matter as they both had the same dumbfounded looks on their faces. There wasn't time to back track and spell it out for them so she figured it was time to get straight to the point. "Callisto's after the Shadow Crystal. The pieces were hidden by a team of ancient rangers. She's talked about finding it for years. It's said that the crystal itself holds great power to anyone who could find it and absorb it. Not to mention it's rumored to be the key to a greater power." she paused and looked at the reactions of the others. "It's also said to have unstable properties which is why noone has bothered to look for it, however if Callisto wants it now she may have figured out how to control it. Cratus forced a clue to the location of one of the pieces out of Harpta's King and is following the clue as we speak. We also think he may have an idea who to see to find the rest of the pieces. We know exactly where to find the first piece and exactly who to see to get more information. We came to fill you in before we went after Cratus."

As Karone finished her speech a wave of silence came over the room. The rangers took a moment to absorb what she had been saying before finally they reacted. "Well we have to do something." Carri was the first to speak up. She'd be damned if she'd let Callisto get any sort of power up on her watch.

"I agree we need to help." Jason jumped in. Carri wasn't the only ranger who wasn't about to let this happen. "Maybe we should go with them. We can crush Cratus quickly."

Tommy shook his head no. Although he wanted to go, they simply couldn't pick the team up and leave right now. Earth would be defenseless, and even if they could get former rangers to temporarily pitch in there's no guarantee it would be fast enough. "Callisto's been attacking furiously lately, probably to keep us away from this. We can't leave her to attack."

"Perhaps one of us could go." Kim thought out loud. She could be the one. She had Planetary Powers, which would function with Zhane's powers. And she was teleporting herself accurately about half of the time now. That could be helpful, assuming of course she could be accurate. Time was of the essence and she wouldn't be able to afford any screw-ups.

Carri stood beside her friend, her thoughts racing along the same lines. It would be best to have a Planetary to go with Zhane, which left only two options. And although she was a strong ranger with a few little tricks of her own, it made more sense for her to go and leave Kim on Earth doing double duty to make up for the missing ranger. After all Kim was the one with the blossoming Muirantian powers, and despite the fact that they weren't nearly fully developed they still beat anything she could come up with. "I'll go." she said simply

"Babe..." Rocky opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. He certainly didn't want her going on this mission alone but she wasn't about to let him express that.

"It makes the most sense. I know Cratus well, I can stop him. Plus Zhane's a Planetary and we should send another Planetary for powers purposes. And Kim is more well equipped to cover for me than I am for her." Carri gave her reasons as she made eye contact with the pink ranger

Kim nodded. She knew what she was saying. That Kim's developing powers made her the best choice to attempt double ranger duty. And she was right. "I agree. If we're going to send someone it should be Carri."

"That's good, we welcome any help." Andros replied agreeing with one of his fellow red rangers

"Then it's settled. Carri will go and the rest of us will take care of things on Earth." Tommy said in a tone that suggested that was the end of that conversation. He turned toward Carri. "We can probably put some former rangers on standby if we need them, that should keep us covered until you get back."

Carri nodded. "Sounds good. Hopefully it will be a smash and grab and I'll be back in action before you ever get a chance to miss me."

"I'm going to use your facilities to contact Ashley, let her know what's going on." Andros said as he walked up to one of the communications panels. He was afraid that his wife was worried sick about him by this point. Usually if he took off she would have had contact with him by now.

"Great. I'll go grab a few things and I'll meet you guys on the ship in a minute." Carri replied teleporting out

Rocky sighed. "I'm going to go talk to her." he mumbled as he teleported out as well

"I don't think that sat too well with him." Kim said more to herself than anything. She couldn't blame his reaction, she was running off again and Zhane was involved which probably made matters worse.

"We've got to do what it takes to protect Earth." Jason pointed out. He hated the idea of one of his girls taking off without the rest of the team as backup but he had to trust that she could handle it and that they would come back victorious.

"I know that. And he knows that too I'm sure. That doesn't mean he's going to like it." Kim said with a sigh. She hoped that Carri was right, that this would be a quick smash and grab and they wouldn't have to worry about being down one of their teammates or Callisto getting the power of the Shadow Crystal.

* * *

Rocky teleported to the house shortly after Carri did. He headed into the bedroom and sat down on their bed, watching as she frantically searched for something. The worst feeling of deja vu came over him. Dread rose from the pit of his stomach as he digested what was going on. She was leaving him again. And once again he didn't have much say in the matter. Andros, Kim and Tommy had agreed with her, and once all the reds were in agreement the decision was made.

When she left all those years ago he didn't have the overwhelming urge to stop her. He knew it was something she had to do and figured she'd be gone a few days, a few weeks tops. He was wrong then, and he was scared to fall for the same promises of a quick return. He realized that someone had to go but he didn't understand why it had to be her. He could tell that Carri and Kim knew something that the rest of them didn't, something that would explain why it made the most sense to send her.

The worst part wasn't the fear that she'd be gone longer than anticipated. The worst part was that she was going with Zhane, a man who she'd admitted to sleeping with before and a man he certainly didn't trust. It didn't matter than his girlfriend was going, he barely knew Karone and for that he couldn't say that he trusted her either. The only thing that kept him from pointing out to her how bad of an idea it was to take off with an ex was the fact that Andros was going. He trusted Andros, he'd gotten to know him well especially after Ashley transferred to USC upon getting her associates degree. They had become friends, and Carri had even been a bridesmaid in Ashley's wedding.

Of course Andros wasn't enough to completely ease his fear, and if it weren't for Tommy's insistence that they could only afford to loose one teammate with Callisto's latest attacks he would have demanded that he go with them. Rocky understood why only one of them could go. Earth needed protecting. And if they left they weren't exactly able to transfer their powers. Their coins were made for them, and in order to transfer powers they'd have to find a way to get new coins to transfer the powers to. If they could even do that it would take time, and that was something they didn't have.

He watched as Carri didn't find what she was looking for and dashed out of the bedroom. He loved her and he didn't want her to go. He was afraid of losing her in more ways than one. He thought about the last time she left and how he silently let her go. If there was one regret he had it was that he didn't tell her then how much she meant to him. They had been together for so long that in a lot of ways it went without saying how much they meant to each other. But it was more than that.

Rocky glanced over at his sock drawer, where sitting nestled in the back was a small box with a small diamond ring that he had bought for her almost five years ago. He'd never had the chance to give it to her. He always knew that if he was going to propose it would have to be perfect. Carri was not the girl who sat around dreaming of the big fancy wedding with the white dress and the perfect husband. And although she would be happy spending the rest of her life with him, she was never that interested in marriage. For him to ask and her to say yes, he knew the circumstances would have to be right. He had hoped that when she returned from space the first time he could find the right moment.

Standing he headed over toward his dresser and opened the top drawer, digging around until he found the box. He opened it up and glanced at it as he had done so many times before. The more he thought about it the more his mind was made up. He should've asked her before she left all those years ago, should've let her know just how much he loved her. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. In his heart he knew these weren't exactly the ideal conditions for her to say yes. He was hoping that she would at least say they'd discuss it when she got back instead of a flat out no. At least she'd go away knowing that he felt that strongly about her.

As he made his way back over to the bed, shoving the box in his pocket, Carri came back through the door with a duffle bag in hand. "You think I'd remember where I put my shit." she grumbled as she flung it open and started finding things to throw in it. She found herself moving so quickly she wasn't completely sure of the items she was grabbing. Her mind was going one hundred miles an hour, completely engulfed in Callisto's plans and scenarios she was going to encounter when they left.

"Well you know. It's a big house." Rocky muttered nervously as he watched the frenzy of activity that was surrounding his girlfriend. He took a deep breath before he spoke. "I was hoping we could talk before you took off."

Carri heard him say something about talking from behind her. She rolled her eyes. Now was not the time as she had more important things on her mind. But if it would make him feel better she would let him say whatever it was he had to say. "Sure"

"Well you know we've been together practically since high school." Rocky started, unsure of just how to get to the point of the whole thing. "And you know I love you, a lot, and you mean more to me than anyone."

"Uh-huh" Carri said in response. Truthfully she was quite oblivious to what he was saying. Her brain had somewhat processed bits and pieces but most of it was focused on Cratus, and what their strategy would be when they got to him. They couldn't let him get that crystal shard and they had to get ahead of him and get the others. As far as Rocky was concerned, when she was finished packing he'd hopefully be finished talking and she'd give him an "I love you I'll see you when I get back" before she took off.

"I don't want you to leave without hearing this." Rocky continued as she threw the remainder of the things she wanted into the bag. "You're the most important part of my life and I'm almost certain the feeling is mutual. I don't want to be without you Carri I want us to be one."

Carri finished zipping up her bag and looked up at him, momentarily thinking he was done talking about whatever and she could get out of there and take care of business. He surprised her by grabbing her hand and pulling her down next to him on the bed. She sighed. She didn't have time for this, she had places to be. Her mind jumped to the ramifications of what would happen if she didn't get out of there and get that crystal.

"What I'm trying to say is," Rocky started pulling the box out of his pocket with one hand and opening it, sliding it down his leg and finally bringing it to a rest on his knee, "will you marry me?"

Carri's mind came to a complete halt and she looked at him like a deer in the headlights. He was asking her a question, that much she knew, but she wished she'd been paying more attention. She should've taken a moment to process the scene, she would've noticed the engagement ring he had sitting on his knee and the nervousness that had him practically trembling. Instead her mind raced immediately to give an answer, one that she hoped would get her out of there quickly. "Um... yes?" she said praying that was a yes or no question and that yes was the response that would get her on the ship as soon as possible

Rocky threw his arms around her and she felt something cold against her finger. He pressed his lips against hers briefly before she nudged him back and smiled at him. "I have to go. We can talk more about this later." she said jumping up to grab her bag. Now she found herself more confused than ever. "Love you."

"Love you too." he said as she stood. "Be careful." he added watching as she teleported away

Once she was gone he let out an excited yelp. He couldn't believe she'd said yes. He'd been so worried, but now he could relax as the woman of his dreams was going to marry him. She'd looked a little dumbfounded but that was to be expected, she had no idea this was coming. Now he wanted nothing more than to stand from the top of the highest mountain and announce to the world that he was getting married. But he decided to keep it their secret for now. It was their news to tell, and he knew she would want to be there when they told everyone. He collapsed back on the bed. She couldn't get back to him soon enough.

* * *

Carri arrived on the bridge of the Megaship where the three Kaoan's stood waiting. As they started to take off she dropped her bag, finally noticing the ring that Rocky had placed on her finger moments before. The realization of what just happened finally hit her, and she wished that she'd taken five minutes to pay attention earlier.

"Oh shit." she said aloud, holding her hand up to eye level and examining the ring. The stunned tone in her voice did not escape the other rangers.

"What is it?" Zhane asked looking over at her curiously

"I think I'm getting married." she replied still staring at the ring on her finger

"Congratulations?" Zhane questioned. It was odd, most Earth women he had met were enthralled by the idea of marriage and were ecstatic when they had been proposed to. Carri seemed more confused than anything.

"Yeah... thanks..." she said as the ship barreled off toward its destination. She picked up her things off the floor and headed towards her quarters leaving the others wondering what was going on.

As she headed down the hallway she thought about the fact that she'd just agreed to get married. It wasn't that she didn't love Rocky or couldn't see herself spending forever with him. It was just... well marriage wasn't something she saw herself doing, not since she was little at least. Ever since high school she found herself enjoying being her own independent free spirit and she never thought she would legally bind herself to a man.

Despite her reservations about marriage, if she was going to do it Rocky would be the one and only man she'd ever consider doing it with. There were plenty of differences between the two of them but she loved him with all her heart, and they shared bonds that not many people in the universe would understand.

With a sigh Carri plopped her bag down on the small bed. Perhaps it was fate that stepped in and pulled her attention away, giving her the opportunity to say yes. What was done was done, and she loved him too much to be a bitch and come back and say no. Besides she was happy with Rocky, and after that many years it was the next logical step. Marriage was something she'd have to warm up to, but she had a feeling that a few days without him would do the trick. She took what she knew would be a rare moment of alone time to think about him, about them, and she smiled. Everything would work itself out. But for now she had to hurry back to the bridge to discuss with the others some of her ideas for taking down Cratus.

* * *

Kim teleported with Tommy back down to their apartment and collapsed with her boyfriend on the couch. "I can't believe it was about Callisto." she said with a sigh

"Well at least they were there. Now we can do what we need to." Tommy replied. He was just as surprised by the recent turn of events as his girlfriend. He hoped everything turned out in their favor. It was going to be hard not knowing, hard not being able to effect the outcome.

"Should I have gone?" Kim questioned. Although Carri's points were right this was as much her fight as anyone else's. It was hard being delegated to the sidelines.

"Carri will be fine. She's a good a ranger as the rest of us." Tommy pointed out. He had no doubts in Carri's abilities as a ranger. Not to mention she was going with quite the experienced group.

"It's not that." Kim said. She had no doubts in her best friend's abilities. But she had just sent the two rangers she was in charge of on a mission, she felt like she should be there. "It's just..." she sighed once more, not knowing how to explain herself

"It's just as a red you want to be part of the action." Tommy filled in. He knew how it was. He had a feeling the entire team felt the pressure to see the issue with Cratus through. Reds always were the ones to take charge, make sure that things got done. Their team was unique, it was the only ranger team ever to have four members who had been red once in their careers, with a the fifth having so much fire she might as well have been. It's part of what made them all master rangers, and quite the formidable force. They knew what to do, when to do it, and the importance of everything both domestically and intergalactically.

"I suppose so." Kim replied. They all wanted to be part of the action. But in all honesty they had their own important task to deal with. The four of them would have to hold off Callisto, all the while hoping she would keep her interest on them and not send reinforcements to Cratus.

Tommy put his arm around her and pulled her into him, kissing her on the temple. "So now that your mall trip is done, do you have any plans for today?"

"I should go get our bags and return Carri's car to the house." When their communicators went off the girls left the mall in a hurry, stashing their shopping bags somewhere secure and leaving Carri's car in the parking lot. She didn't think it was a good idea to leave her car there until she returned, and she certainly didn't want someone stealing their things.

"Then?" Tommy questioned smiling at her. He wanted to rekindle the spontaneous romance of the night before. At the very least it would get their minds off of everything for a bit. At most, well time spent with Kim could be intoxicating and he absorbed every moment of it.

"If you'd like I could come back here and keep you company." Kim replied giving him a wink

Tommy grinned at her and threw his arms around her bringing her down to the couch, giving her kisses first around her neck before moving to the parts of her stomach that had been exposed when her shirt pulled itself up. "Only if you'd like." he said in between kisses

Kim propped herself up on her elbows as he moved down and kissed her bare skin as close to her thigh as he could with her shorts on. "First you're driving me to the mall so I can get Carri's car and our stuff and put everything where it belongs."

Tommy raised an eyebrow as he paused and sat up. "You're going to make me wait?"

"It will be more fun that way." Kim promised as she smiled seductively at him while pulling herself up and rubbing her hands slowly down the front of her chest to pull her shirt back down.

It took every ounce of Tommy's willpower not to rip her clothes off and take her right there. He quickly jumped up and grabbed his keys off the counter. "Come on let's go." he said grabbing her by the hand and pulling her up as well

"You seem to be in quite the hurry." Kim teased as she allowed herself to be pulled out the front door

Tommy smiled over at her as he led her to his jeep, quickly starting the car and taking off in the direction of the mall the girls had been shopping at earlier.

* * *

As Tommy and Kim were in the middle of their explosive afternoon, the Megaship Mark II slowed down as it approached the planet that King Rinnini assured them his piece of the crystal was on. They pulled out of hyperspace and looked around, quickly realizing they weren't alone.

"That's Cratus's ship." Carri pointed out. She had seen it many times before when they'd fought him out in space.

"Do you think he has the shard?" Zhane questioned, praying that they weren't too late

"No he'd have no reason to stick around." Karone assured him. He had three other pieces to get and Callisto wouldn't want him wasting any time.

"We should take the gliders and go grab it." Zhane pointed out the obvious

Carri shook her head no. "We need a plan. What if he stops us?"

"Maybe we want him to stop us." Andros suggested as an idea came to mind. The others looked at him curiously. "He doesn't know we're here. Carri and Zhane can morph and go down to distract them. He'll be so busy fighting the only two that he thinks are after the shard that he'll never notice if Karone and I sneak in and take it."

"That might work." Karone said as she slowly nodded her head. Of course they'd only be able to pull this trick one time, but Cratus was already on the surface on his way so if there was any time to do it now was it.

"Then let's not waste any more time." Zhane said as he was the first of the group to head out toward the jump tubes. "We'll morph and go down first. You guys give us a minute then you can sneak and follow."

Andros nodded over at his best friend. "Good luck."

Zhane nodded back as in unison he and Carri called out "Planetary rangers, power up!" before morphing and jumping in the tubes. Zhane was on the silver glider and Carri was on the yellow, and together they raced down to the surface to find Cratus and his minions desperately searching for the crystal shard. They were relieved to see that they were close to finding it but not quite there yet.

"Hey Cratus!" Carri yelled out as she flipped off of her glider and landed on the ground, all eyes snapping in her direction. "We missed you back home, thought we'd come pay you a visit."

Cratus looked from the white to the green Planetary Rangers. How they knew he was there he'd never know. Nor did it matter as he planned on destroying the rangers and finding what he was looking for anyway. "I didn't know rangers were so excited to rush to their deaths." he hissed reaching for his sword

Zhane laughed. "He's got it all backwards." he pointed out as he saw the faint streaks of the pink and red galaxy gliders near the surface. "We actually came to kill him." If that wasn't going to get him to have his entire force focus on them he didn't know what would.

"We'll see about that." Cratus growled as stood battle ready. "Get them." As the orders crossed his lips he ran at them with all his might.

"Lightning lance!"

"Terra axe!"

The two Planetary Rangers stood poised and ready as they powered up their weapons and braced for the oncoming attack. They waited until the enemy got close enough then suddenly lightning rained down from above while below the ground trembled and cracked open. Several of his forces succumbed but Cratus stood strong and swung his sword at them with all his might.

They both held their weapons up and held his sword from striking before jointly giving him a swift kick, sending him tumbling backwards before turning their attention toward his small army. They fought back to back flinging Cratus's soldiers out of the way, only moving when Cratus himself leaped toward them. The fight raged on with Zhane and Carri using every trick they could think of to keep Cratus's forces tuned in on them without getting themselves killed.

Finally the red and pink galaxy gliders dipped in overhead. "Let's go." Andros called before he zoomed off toward the ship

"He doesn't have to tell me twice." Carri muttered as she glanced over at Zhane, who immediately called for the return of their gliders.

Cratus, now more than a little confused about what was going on as the two unmorphed former rangers zipped by, ran to attack the others furiously. Zhane rolled out of the way of the attack as his glider swooped down and he jumped on it, while Carri used the brute coming toward her as a stepping stone to jump to her own glider. Not that she needed the boost but the idea that the gesture would add insult to injury once Cratus figured out what just happened pleased her.

After stumbling from Carri's using him as a stepping stone Cratus stood in time to watch the two Planetary Rangers speed off. Pushing past his army he headed in the direction that the shard was supposed to be. There was digging that had not been done by any of his forces and he could only imagine that it was the former rangers that had gotten to the shard while he was distracted.

Taking a moment he let out some of his anger on his nearest worker. This would not be tolerated and this would not happen again. He knew to expect them now. When he reached the next shard not only would he retrieve it, but he had every intention of taking back the shard that rightfully belonged to Callisto.

"Don't just stand there let's move!" Cratus growled yelling at anyone who would listen. He quickly grabbed what he needed and headed back to his ship. There was no time to waste, this mission had now become a race against the rangers.

* * *

The moment Zhane and Carri were safely aboard the ship started moving. Andros was going to waste no time getting out of there. Cratus wasn't stupid, it wouldn't take him long to figure out what happened and he wasn't about to stick around long enough for him to try and ask for the shard back.

Carri and Zhane wondered onto the bridge of the ship and noticed Karone looking carefully at the shard they had collected. Carri walked up behind her and took a look at it. "So that's what all the fuss is about?"

"One piece of it anyway." Karone said absentmindedly. Even with all that had happened in the last day she still couldn't believe that it existed, and that she was actually holding a piece of the mighty Shadow Crystal. "I can feel the dark power residing within it." she said as she covered the crystal with a cloth. The power in the crystal they could all sense. But the evil energies it possessed weren't easy to feel unless one knew what they were looking for. Although her days as Astronema were long over, there were some things that weren't easily forgotten.

Karone took the shard and walked off. "I'm going to put this somewhere secure." she said as she headed off the bridge. They certainly didn't need to leave it laying around. She caught Zhane's eye as she walked past him and he grinned at her and followed in case she needed his help.

Carri watched the duo leave and shrugged her shoulders before going to stand by Andros at the ships controls. "So now what?"

Andros glanced over at her. "Now we go off in search of a being that may not exist for knowledge he may or may not have." he replied. He hoped the rumors were right, it would make their job so much easier.

"So a wild goose chase?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow

"Let's hope not." Andros replied

Carri let out a sigh as she stood by the former red Astro Ranger. Grabbing the first shard was easier than she expected. Hopefully the others wouldn't be that hard to come by and then they could get home and put this whole mess behind them.


	18. The Shadow Crystal

**Disclaimer: **As I'm sure you are all aware by now, the rangers belong to Disney, Callisto to Universal and all the other characters to me.  
Without giving much away there is a character description in the last few paragraphs that is pretty much exactly taken from KSuzie's "The Coin Series" with her permission of course :)

**Author's Notes: **As you may notice in this chapter there is a lot coming up in the future for the ranger team. Hopefully you guys enjoy it and are anxious to see what's next. Speaking of what's next, I wanted to let you all know that it may take a big longer than usual to get the next chapter out. After this I am going to start to work on the next chapter of "Return to Action" which should be up in the first week or two of August. In the middle of the month I have some minor surgery scheduled on my hand and while it heals I don't know how much writing I'm going to be able to do. Shortly after that I'm going to be out of town for two weeks and there is a possibility that there's going to be something else added to my plate in August. (Yeah it's going to be a busy, CRAZY, next month or two). Ideally I can squeeze out another chapter before the surgery but realistically I'll probably get into another chapter and hopefully finish it between my surgery and the time I'm out of town. If not it will be the end of September before the next chapter is posted. I apologize in advance for what may be a long wait but I promise I will try to speed write the next chapter to make up for it :)  
This my second attempt at presenting this chapter correctly formated (sentances and paragraphs not split, dividing lines where they should be, ect.). I just got Word 2007 and it is not cooporating with fanfiction net in regards to preserving formatting from the .docx file to fanfiction net's page. I have tried to upload it in a different format and I think (hope) it is actually right this time. I apologize if there are any glaring formatting errors. Please feel free to let me know if you see something and I will get it corrected.

Power Rangers Legacy  
"The Shadow Crystal"

The four rangers occupying the Megaship Mark II raced through space with their newest prize in hand. It had been a long hard battle but they had been victorious in retrieving the third piece of the crystal. Much like the last two times they had to get to it and pry it away from Cratus's open arms. None of the team understood how he had gotten to the last two locations as quickly as they did. They hadn't heard about him beating any information out of anyone else and he certainly couldn't have come to the knowledge the same way they did.

Their trek to the information had been difficult, and it was obvious that there was no way Cratus could have done the same. It had started out simple enough. King Rinnini had given them precise directions to the location of the ancient ranger's base. The planet was a half a day's journey away, but it presented no challenge at all to plug the coordinates into the megaship's computer and let it do all the work.

Once they arrived they landed on the planet's surface a short distance from where the remains were said to be. They were afraid of landing too close and spooking the ancient ranger's mentor. If the rumors were true that could be an easy way to get them killed.

Upon landing Karone volunteered to stay and watch the ship and Zhane said he'd stay with her. Her reason was that someone had to stay close to the crystal piece in the event Cratus found the ship and came looking for them. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that he was furious and would be ready to hunt them down at all costs. The piece was not something she was willing to give up. Although that was a very good reason and one Andros and Carri wholeheartedly agreed with, Karone had another motive for staying behind, one she wasn't about to share with anyone.

She didn't want to hold the team back from their mission. The King's words that no one evil had ever been able to get close rang loud and clear. Although she hadn't been Astronema for years and hadn't done anything evil since she was Astronema, the truth was that Astronema was still a part of her. Before she was implanted to be evil she had chosen that path. Granted she had been kidnapped and didn't know better, but it didn't make any difference. She had grown up evil and not given it a second thought. She was afraid that this master would be able to sense the former princess of evil's presence in her and would deny them access, or worse yet kill them. So she volunteered to guard the piece of the crystal while her brother and Carri pushed on. She was grateful that Zhane agreed to stay with her. Should the need arise to protect the crystal he was the one with the powers, which had a much better chance than her pure will and determination to win.

Andros and Carri said their goodbyes and pushed on to the ruins left by the ancient team of rangers. When they approached the scene they looked around, quickly realizing that no one would give this place a second thought if they didn't know what it was in the first place. As they took in every last detail of their surroundings they made their way to the center of the ruins. There was no ancient ranger master waiting for them to help them on their quest. The two would've given up and gone back to the ship to look up better options but ranger instinct told them there was more to the ruins than they could see.

There was something else there, a presence that couldn't be described. They could feel it in the way the wind blew, the way the birds flew around them and the insects scurried beside them. They both agreed that it must be the ancient rangers mentor, watching them from whatever plane of existence he had retreated to thousands of years ago. The question then became how to bring him out to face them, how to get him to give them the knowledge they needed to save the universe.

It was Andros's suggestion that if their mentor was indeed watching them, then he was probably listening to them as well. He wanted to tell him everything in hopes that he would agree with their cause and present himself. For a lack of anything else, Carri agreed and Andros began to describe their situation in detail. He spoke of the goddess who was trying to use the Shadow Crystal to rule the universe first, before going into detail of the attack on Harpta and how their small group of past and present rangers barely managed to get the first shard away from Callisto's lackey. Andros said that Cratus would certainly find the other shards and that the fate of the universe depended on them getting there first. For that they had come to this planet begging for his help.

There was a long silence and just as Carri was about to suggest they leave as he obviously wasn't inclined to help the sky around them darkened and in a flash of light they disappeared. When the light faded they realized they were no longer on the planet's surface. The rangers had been brought to the plane of existence the ancient rangers mentor lived on.

He explained that it was too dangerous for him to show himself on the surface. He was able to sense all the morphers they held between the two of them and after he concluded that their intentions were pure, he brought them to him. Before giving them the information they were seeking he gave them explicit directions on making sure the crystals were dispersed again in a way that no one would ever be able to find them. They agreed, figuring they'd worry about that part later. They were then given the precise locations of the other three crystal pieces. After thanking him they were returned to the planet's surface where they rushed back to the ship and filled the others in on what they had learned.

The small band of rangers wasted no time going for the second piece of the crystal. Much to their surprise Cratus arrived shortly after they did. It was a costly battle as Karone spent the better part of the next leg of their journey in the infirmary. It had been worth it though as they had recovered the next piece. And although they were baffled by Cratus's appearance, they refused to let him surprise them a second time. They were more prepared on the next planet, and despite the fact that Cratus arrived almost simultaneously as they did they were able to acquire the third piece with no major injuries.

It had been several days since they left Earth but they now found themselves having recovered three of the pieces of the Shadow Crystal with only one more to go. Karone once again found herself taking responsibility for the crystal that they were all staring at as they stood over her on the bridge.

"One more piece." Carri said absentmindedly as she looked over the third shard they fought hard for

Karone nodded. "We have to figure out what to do about Cratus. He's getting too close." On the last planet they had been surprised and she had been injured, and despite the fact that she hadn't gotten hurt this time he had arrived with them and that worried her more than any injury.

"I'm pushing the ship as fast as it can go." Andros said. He wanted to get there well before Cratus ever had a chance.

"We'll have to keep our eyes peeled and our fingers crossed and deal with him if it gets to that point." Carri said with a sigh. There wasn't much they could do to prepare for Cratus. Finding these shards wasn't as precise as it could be and they were going in blindly. Without knowing the terrain and what to expect it was hard to plan out how they were going to defend against their enemy.

"I'm not too worried about it." Zhane replied with a shrug. "We got the other three. How hard can it be to get this one?"

"Maybe how hard shouldn't be the question but at what cost." Karone said simply as she wrapped the third piece up in cloth. "I'm going to put this somewhere secure."

Her brother made eye contact with her and nodded. "Then maybe we should all get some sleep." Regardless of whether or not Cratus arrived on the fourth and final planet with them they would still need to be on top of their game. Despite going top speed it would still be several hours before they arrived at their destination and rest would be the ideal way to spend that time.

"I'll go lay down but no promises." Carri agreed. Her mind had been going at the speed of light with everything that had been happening around her since they left Earth. The few times she tried to sleep she ended up simply laying there. On several occasions she'd ended up giving up and working out on the simudeck. Adrenaline was fueling her on the mission now but she'd humor Andros and try and get some sleep.

"I'll have the ship wake us before we get there." Andros replied. He would probably be the only one to welcome the opportunity to sleep. He knew Karone and Zhane would take the time to rest, or at the very least disappear into the bedroom for a few hours. Carri's restlessness was no secret but the mission would be over soon and she could recuperate back on Earth.

The others agreed with him and moments later the ship's bridge was empty, each of the four rangers taking time for themselves before they arrived at their final destination.

* * *

Rocky arrived home from his school a little earlier than usual. He was excited about his plans for that evening as he was meeting someone at the house for a while before taking his guest and joining the rangers for a late dinner at Bulkmeier's. It was the first time in days that he found himself excited about something other than the prospect of getting married.

The reason he was so excited was that the guest in question was Aisha. He hadn't seen her in a while and she called him that past Monday to let him know that she would be in town Thursday afternoon and would love to say hello to him and the other former rangers. Kim was thrilled and she suggested that they all meet for dinner that evening. Billy and Trini were coming as was the rest of the current team. The only thing that kept dinner from being perfect was the fact that his fiancé wouldn't be there. Tonight would've been the best opportunity to tell everyone their good news.

He let out a sigh as he went into the bedroom to change. He was worried about her, he couldn't help it. They left too quickly to be able to get their communications fixed and he assumed it was quite low on the priority list while they were out their recovering the pieces of the crystal. He understood. Retrieving the crystal quickly was much more important than him saying hello to his girlfriend.

But it was more than just the ability to say hello. He wanted to know how their quest was going, if they were going to be successful and home soon. He wanted to know if they were all alright, if she was alright. So many nights he lay awake wondering if she was in trouble and needed him or if she was hurt or even worse if she had been killed. Kim assured him that if things were going Callisto's way they would certainly know about it. Since the others have been gone the goddess's camp had been sending down small armies, enough to keep them busy but not enough to do any damage. Callisto wouldn't hesitate to brag about her accomplishments. If she was about to win she'd be down on the surface herself, taunting them and making sure they knew it was the end. And if something had happened to Carri, well she had been waiting for years to be able to gloat that she finally did her in.

He assumed that Kim was right but that wasn't going to stop him from worrying. But for now he would try to push all of that aside so he could enjoy a nice evening with friends. Aisha would be there any minute and he would have to scurry to get ready. It was good timing on her part. She and Adam had been his childhood best friends and if anyone could get him to stop worrying and have a good time for a while it would be her.

As he finished getting ready he heard the doorbell ring. Quickly he made his way out of the bedroom and to the front door, not bothering to look through the peephole as there was only one person he was expecting. He opened the door and smiled at the familiar face on the stoop. "Hey." He quickly greeted leaning over to give an old friend a hug

"It's good to see you." Aisha said as she returned his gesture. They quickly let go and Rocky motioned for her to come in. As she entered he shut the door behind her.

Rocky led her into the living room. "Come in, make yourself at home."

"It must be nice to be moving up in the world." Aisha said with a smile as she looked around the house that she'd visited briefly her last time in Angel Grove. Rocky didn't live here then, he was living in a small apartment on the other side of town.

"All I had to do was move in, Carri did everything else here." he said with a grin quickly before pausing to amend his statement. "Well most of it anyway. She owns the house and did most of the decorating." There wasn't much of a need for any of his things when he moved into the house. She had done a great job with it and he liked the way it was set up. He had been the one to suggest that they just store most of his furniture and worry about it later. Carri had been relieved. Work ate up so much of her schedule that she dreaded finding time to rearrange the house. Not that she wouldn't have done it, but she was grateful that he was as inclined not to fool with it as she was.

"So I take it things are going well for the two of you?" Aisha questioned as she raised an eyebrow. She certainly wouldn't let a man move into a house that she owned unless things were going mighty good.

"You could say that." He replied with a smile. More than anything he wanted to blurt out exactly how well things were going, but he had promised himself he'd wait until Carri got back and that was a promise he intended on keeping.

Aisha didn't miss the devilish smile on Rocky's face and she laughed. "Ok then." He was obviously not going to give away any details and she wouldn't probe. For now anyway. She walked into the living room and glanced at the glass door that led out to the porch. She had forgotten what a wonderful view Carri had from back there.

"It's great you can see the lake." Aisha commented as she went over and stood in front of the door

"Let me go grab us a couple of beers, we can sit out back." Rocky suggested as he watched her look out over the lake.

"Cool we can talk some." Aisha replied with a nod

Rocky walked off and headed into the kitchen. Opening the fridge he pulled out two beers and sat them on the counter. He pulled out the bottle opener and popped the lids off, tossing them into the trash. He took a sip of his beer as he walked back out toward Aisha. He couldn't help but make a toast to himself, to a nice relaxing night with old friends.

* * *

Kim found herself heading home through Jason's neighborhood. Well on her route home from work Jason's house was more than just a little detour but she wanted to stop and talk to him. She was going to see him in a few hours but there were a few things she didn't want to say in front of the others, specifically having to do with his dating situation.

Things had been crazy for her the last few days and she really hadn't had the chance to talk to him about what happened with Emma. It was ok though as it had taken her four days to catch up with her coworker to see if she would be interested in a date with Jason. Fortunately she was all for it and now she was going to put everything out on the table for Jason to see if she could get the two of them together.

The woman she wanted to hook him up with was Cameron Jamison, who worked public relations at Ashley's company. She had graduated from a small high school in Nevada in 1995 but was only a year older than them as she skipped a grade when she was younger. Getting a job working for Ashley had been like a dream come true. She had always been into fashion even though her parents couldn't afford the high end labels. In her youth she dreamed of modeling but working at Ashley's firm was even better.

The thought of Cameron being a model made Kim laugh. Not that she wasn't pretty enough but she struck her as quite shy. She wasn't sure how that would blend with Jason's outgoing personality but Cameron was really nice and easy to get along with so she figured they could give it a try. Cameron had seemed excited that Kim was trying to set her up with one of her friends. Now she was going to have to get Jason to go along with it. But Carri had talked him into a blind date and she saw no reason why she couldn't do the same thing. After all both of them had the ability to worm their way into the soft spot of Jason's heart, something he never shared with anyone, and for that he tended to let them have their way even if he went kicking and screaming.

Pulling into the driveway she cut the engine off and climbed out of the car. Quickly she made her way to his front door and rang the bell. A few seconds later Jason answered.

"Kim, hey, what are you doing here?" Jason asked a bit surprised to see her. For one they were having dinner together shortly and secondly she didn't usually drop by out of the blue. Not that he wasn't glad to see her, he just wasn't expecting it.

"I came to chat." She replied with a sly smile

"Does anything good ever come out of a chat?" he questioned as he stepped aside and gestured for her to come in

"Lots of good things come from chats." Kim was quick to point out. "Besides a girl saying we need to talk only means bad news if it's directed toward her boyfriend."

Jason nodded and laughed. "Alright I'll give you that." He shut the door behind Kim and led her into the living room where they both sat down on the couch. "So what's up?"

"I'm sorry about Emma Price." Kim said with a frown

Jason nodded. He was wondering when that would come up. He was beginning to think that Carri had left too soon for them to have discussed it or have any idea what the outcome was. "Car owes me for that one."

Kim snorted. "You gotta give her credit though. She tried. For you. Maybe you can put Emma in your next book so it's not a complete waste." If he was going to use their relationships as points for his massively famous novels, he might as well include his own amusing dating situations.

"I just might." Jason said. He hadn't thought about it before but he could probably swing something entertaining out of his encounter with Emma Price and he shouldn't let it go to waste. "Hopefully that will be the last actress she tries to set me up with."

"Yes, well, Carri just thought she's what you needed." Kim replied. "I mean you don't just need sex you need a relationship. With someone a little more down to Earth."

Jason raised an eyebrow. If he was reading Kim's tone right she already had someone in mind and he wasn't sure if he was in the mood for that. "Something like that."

"I have an idea of someone you might like." Kim supplied, holding her breath and waiting for his reaction

Jason sighed. He did not want to be set up again. He wanted to be able to sit back and enjoy spending time with Emily without having to worry about obtaining a girlfriend for show purposes. He was having so much fun with her. Although he was looking forward to dinner with friends, he was disappointed that he wasn't going to be able to meet Emily again that night. Other than the girls this was the first time he felt really comfortable with a woman in a long time. Granted they weren't dating but that didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy her company. That included things he still refused to acknowledge such as the way she looked, the way she smelled, how she was always so happy to see him, the way he felt when she accidentally grazed up against him. He tried not to get too excited thinking about her with Kim there as he continued their conversation. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. She's smart and nice and I think you guys would really get along." She said cheerfully as she gave him a smile. "She works with me. I could set you guys up if you liked."

Jason thought about it for a moment. He didn't want to go through another blind date. But it couldn't possibly be any worse than Emma. And hopefully if he didn't date either of the women his girls set him up with they'd leave him alone and let him be single in peace. "Fine." He said with a grunt. "Let me know when and I'll go out with your friend."

"I promise you won't be disappointed." Kim said as she started to stand. She knew if she asked he'd say yes, if for nothing but to please her. "Now I have to get to the apartment to get ready for later."

"Sit." Jason ordered gesturing back down to the couch. If Kim was going to come over and ask him to do something he didn't want to deal with he was going to ask her something that had been bothering him since the day Carri left. "It's my turn to talk."

"About what?" Kim asked curiously as she sat back down on the couch

"About your Muirantian powers." Jason said. He had gotten the distinct impression that Kim had developed more than she was letting on. He had an inkling something had been different about her abilities ever since Elemi was there, and it had only gotten worse since the unspoken exchange she and Carri had in the Command Chamber.

"What about them?" Kim asked innocently. She wasn't sure what she wanted to tell him. Usually she told him everything but he had a tendency to worry about her just as much as Tommy did.

"I think they're growing and you're not telling anybody." He told her. He was almost hurt that he had been left out of the loop.

"I… well…" Kim paused and watched Jason stare at her. Her shoulder's slumped down as she felt defeated. "I can teleport myself like K. I've almost got a hold of it."

"And?" Jason questioned as Kim shrugged. "Carri wouldn't have wanted you to stay on Earth if all you could do was sometimes teleport yourself."

"And I spent a few months on Phaedos with Dulcea a while ago but she manipulated time so no one knew I was gone. I'm hardly a master of anything but I'm learning a lot which is why Carri thought I should be the one to stay behind." Kim replied with a sigh.

"Who else knows?" Jason questioned, the underlying question being if Tommy knew

"Carri knows everything. Elemi has ideas. I don't think she's said anything to Rocky and Tommy knows less than Elemi." Kim replied as Jason gave her a look. "And when I figure out this teleportation thing I am going to let Tommy in on more details but I don't want him to worry." She didn't want Jason to worry either which was why she was pointedly leaving out the part where villains from around the galaxy are now having thoughts of testing the Phaedosian Warrior who was also a planetary ranger with growing Muirantian powers.

"Was that so hard?" Jason questioned. He wasn't one hundred percent satisfied but it would do for now.

"I'm sorry for not saying anything before." Kim felt the need to apologize

"It's ok." Jason replied. After all he couldn't stay mad at one of his girls for too long.

"Am I free to go?" Kim questioned with a smile. When he didn't immediately answer she continued on. "I still have to get ready."

Jason made a motion as though he was dismissing her. They both stood up and said their goodbyes before Kim took off to get ready for dinner at Bulkmeier's.

* * *

Callisto sat in the throne room after having received Cratus's latest transmission. She was more than a little furious and she found herself itching to totally destroy something. At the moment she was leaning toward Cratus being that something.

Although he didn't deserve full blame for the situation there was still a good portion of it that was his fault. There was always something to be said for complete and utter destruction but within that she also wanted him to be somewhat discrete. Cause enough destruction to get the job done but not enough that the rangers would be intrigued and not just pass it off as a casualty of one of the other villains in the galaxy. She couldn't believe that he'd made such a ruckus on Harpta that the rangers managed to get involved in time to stop him before he found the first shard.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. The worst part was that they knew where to go to get knowledge Cratus couldn't have access to. They could find the exact locations of the other three pieces. They were able to successfully recover two of those pieces before Cratus and now there was only one left. One certainly wasn't want she wanted but it would have to do and she demanded that Cratus get to it first.

The only reason he had a shot at the other two pieces was because he had moles across the galaxy, one of whom had followed the rangers ship and gotten close enough to locate a tracking device without being spotted. During Cratus's last failure he had one of his lackeys put a more sophisticated tracker on the ship, one with the ability to view the ships computers. He knew exactly where they were going and swore he could get there first.

Thanks to the other three failures Callisto wasn't so sure he was going to keep that particular promise. But with no other options she continued to have faith in him. He guaranteed her one piece and said he'd try and secure the other three. He was well aware that the cost of coming back completely empty handed could very well be his life. Now it was becoming more of a waiting game than anything. And if there was one thing Callisto didn't like it was waiting.

"How are things going?" Rhianna asked as she entered the throne room and pulled Callisto away from her thoughts

The goddess gave her a look suggesting she was more than a little unhappy with the current turn of events. Rhianna said nothing in response, merely nodding her head before switching to a new train of thought. "Perhaps we should stir up trouble for the rangers. It's been quiet on the surface for a while." Callisto's suggestions as of late and been nothing more than to keep the rangers occupied. She was excited for the new weapon they would have in the future and she wanted to use that to completely crush them. Which was why, for the moment, she would allow them to continue on with their pathetic little existence.

"Perhaps." Callisto replied. She hadn't really done anything to threaten them as of late. She had been strategically waiting for her opportunity to pounce. But with this latest news from Cratus she now found herself worried that things weren't going to go according to plan. The thought occurred to her that nothing that had happened since returning to this miserable little planet had gone to plan.

Rhianna was startled by the small laugh that escaped Callisto's lips. The goddess couldn't believe that her origins were here, rooted in a town that had been destroyed hundreds of years ago. She tried to pay that destruction back with some of her own. As a mortal it had always been small scale. As a goddess, well she never did get the opportunity to embrace the destruction of that pathetic little planet like she could have.

There was a chance that Cratus would return with all four shards of the crystal and things would go on as planned. There was also a chance she'd have to kill him. Either way that shouldn't keep her from letting out centuries of rage and causing a little destruction. Callisto lifted her hand up in front of her face, watching as first her fingertips lit on fire before she allowed her entire hand to light up. She stared at it for a few seconds, letting out a cackling laugh.

Rhianna was a bit taken back by Callisto's display. She had always known she was unstable; it was why Goldar didn't trust her and why so many villains were too scared to even attempt to cross her. But this was the first time she'd actually seen her fall back to her crazy side. Goldar always said she had a complete lunatic side and it was only a matter of time before it broke through again. For the first time since she'd been with her she was truly getting a glimpse of it. Rather than be afraid of it she was actually quite intrigued.

Callisto allowed the fire to spread down her arm as she swirled it around for a moment, thinking of all the things she could destroy with it. When she was satisfied the flames disappeared and she stood. "Gather whatever monsters or Cirranadrones you desire. We're going to go down to the surface and have a little fun."

"Okay." Rhianna said, however she doubted Callisto was paying her a bit of attention as she headed out of the throne room, the flames engulfing both of her hands. She had no idea what a little bit of fun was going to be, but she was more than interested to find out.

* * *

Kat found herself driving in the direction of her cousin's Angel Grove home. She had a lot she wanted to talk to her about and she didn't feel as though a phone conversation would be adequate. Besides she left her a few messages over the weekend, none of which were returned. She wasn't sure if she was ignoring her or if she was busy but she was determined to find out.

She hoped Carri was simply busy. She knew from her uncle and her cousin that working on a show full time could eat up more of your schedule than you ever imagined. She suspected Carri was going through a lot with her show just getting started again full swing. Plus she had seen the tabloid article on Friday afternoon. She had to imagine that her cousin had her hands full dealing with the fallout. Kat shook her head. Not that Carri deserved it but she certainly did put herself in those situations.

So if she had been too busy to return her calls over the weekend or so far that week she wouldn't be surprised. She knew if that was the case she'd feel obliged to give her a few minutes out of her busy schedule if she simply showed up on her doorstep. Of course if she was ignoring her she'd also have to give her the time of day. For the life of her she couldn't imagine why her cousin would be ignoring her. After all she had no reason to be mad at her. Kat was the one who had reasons to be mad as it was her husband who had almost gotten pummelled. Even if Carri was mad or thought Kat was calling her because she was mad she couldn't imagine her ignoring her. Never in her life had Carri run away from confrontation and she would be more than a little surprised if she started now.

Kat doubted that was it anyway as she was careful to make sure that the voicemails she left didn't convey any anger. She wasn't even sure if she was angry. She'd have to admit, when she first saw the news she'd been livid. How dare her cousin attack her husband like that. And Chris, who hated Carri to begin with, was quick to point out all of his other issues with Carri that the news cameras had missed. She couldn't believe her cousin. Chris loved her. And he was no hero. He thought he was doing what was best for her.

She declined to call and yell at Carri right away and that was a good thing. After she'd calmed down she had a chance to rationally think about the situation. She didn't agree with Carri but she could see where she was coming from. Chris left her in there with two gunmen. Carri would've never done that, she risked her life to save others everyday as a ranger. But Chris is no fighter. And despite whether he was right or wrong Carri shouldn't have attacked him because he didn't do what she would have.

It was a difficult situation, one she was eager to discuss with her cousin. It has been more than two weeks which is why it was past time to talk. It was why she had called once on Saturday and twice on Sunday. She wanted to try and catch her when she assumed she had down time. Carri's not returning her calls for the last few days motivated her to drive by her house after work. It was frustrating to her. She wanted so badly for them to be friends again but it seemed like every time she thought they could try there was another setback. She couldn't help but think that if it was Kim, Carri would have already returned her calls. She knew she shouldn't think like that but she couldn't stop the thought from creeping forward.

While at the core nothing was Kim's fault she had always seemed like the easy out. It was Kim who was always in the back of Tommy's mind during their short relationship. Anytime Tommy had been distant with her she knew it was the former pink ranger that was on his mind. But that wasn't anything Kim could control. She broke up with him and didn't make contact with him with the exception of the few times she saw the team. Granted one of those times was a disaster but it was as much Tommy's fault as Kim's. Then in college Carri roomed with Kim and rangered with Kim and Kat started to pull off into a completely different life, hardly having time for Chris let alone Carri. As Kim's bond with her cousin grew Kat's own bond fell apart. Her life was heading in a much different direction and that wasn't at all Kim's fault.

Despite the fact that she really didn't blame Kim she had been quite unfair to her over the years. When she referenced things that happened in college and how things had changed in such a short time she couldn't help but mention Kim's name. After all she was a huge part of the story, but her part of the story didn't deserve to be told in the negative light Kat would subconsciously portray it in. It gave Chris and his family cause to dislike Kim, something Kat simply chose to leave be. Chris even used some of his dislike for Kim as another reason to hate Carri. For the most part her own family decided not to share their opinions. Kim was Carri's best friend and there was simply no good reason for the family to draw lines over a disagreement between the two cousins.

With a sigh Kat pulled into her cousin's driveway. She was surprised to see a car she didn't recognize sitting there. Of course these days that didn't mean much. It could be anyone from someone Carri casually knew to one of the other rangers. Either way it didn't matter to her. She had things to say to her cousin and she was going to say them, no matter what she had to pull her away from. Slowly she climbed out of the driver's side door and made her way to Carri's front stoop. She rang the bell and stood there, taking a few deep breaths as she waited for someone to respond.

It took a few minutes but finally the door swung open. "Kat, hey, what are you doing here?" Rocky questioned with a smile. She was certainly the last ranger he expected to appear on his doorstep that day.

Before she even had a chance to respond someone else called her name. "Kat!" Aisha's voice yelled as she ran to the front door, quickly pushing Rocky out of the way. "Oh my gosh it's so good to see you!" she exclaimed as she gave her a hug

"How are you?" Kat asked returning the hug in earnest. Aisha was the last person she expected to see at her cousin's house but she was thrilled. From almost the moment her family moved to the states Aisha had become her friend. And although things had changed when Aisha and Tanya switched places, they remained friends over the years. Aisha had been one of the bridesmaids in her wedding and she was on the list of people Kat wanted her mother to call to have come to the hospital when she had the baby.

"I'm good." Aisha said as she leaned back. "How are you? You're getting so big." She said with a smile as she put a hand on Kat's stomach

"I'm due in two weeks." Kat replied with a smile. It was another reason that she wanted to talk with her cousin and set things straight. She didn't want it hanging over them when the baby came.

"Come, sit." Aisha said grabbing Kat's hand and leading her into the living room

Rocky watched as the two girls went in to sit on the couch. He wasn't sure what to think about what was going on. It was odd for Kat to drop by the house. As far as he knew the two cousins hadn't spoken since Carri came seconds away from killing Kat's husband. He shrugged to himself as he shut the door and walked into the living room, situating himself in the recliner.

"So what's going on?" Aisha asked as grinned at Kat

"Not much. Besides, you know, baby stuff." Kat replied with a smile as she put her hands on her belly. "I actually came out this way to see my cousin. She hasn't returned any of my calls so I thought I'd just drop by." She said as she glanced over at Rocky

"She's, uh, out of town right now." Rocky replied. He didn't know why he gave out of town as the reason for her absence; it wasn't like Kat wasn't a former ranger. But he simply didn't want to deal with her reaction if he told her she'd left the galaxy. Again. He hoped she'd let him leave it at out of town.

"Out of town?" Kat questioned raising an eyebrow, the tone of her voice causing Rocky's expression to drop. "Well when you speak to my cousin again, as I assume you will shortly, you can tell her that out of town doesn't give her an excuse to ignore my phone calls. If she doesn't want to speak with me that's fine but at the very least she could leave me a message or something."

"Well she's kind of, well unreachable, and," Rocky paused and sighed. He was going to have to say it. If Kat was going to have anger toward Carri it might as well be for the right reasons. "She's on the Megaship Mark II with Zhane, Karone and Andros. Their communications system is down and I don't know when I'll talk to her again."

Kat looked at him and blinked a few times. She was quite stunned to find out Carri had run of again. It brought back old emotions she had been working hard to wash away. She needed her cousin who wasn't even in the same galaxy as she was and hadn't bothered to let her know. She didn't understand what would even compel her to leave. She had much more going for her on Earth this time. She had a production company and a current ranger team, not to mention she was with Rocky again and had resumed strong friendships with the former rangers. "I don't understand. Why did she go?"

"It was a mission that someone on our team needed to be a part of and she was most qualified. I wasn't all that thrilled for her to be going either, but the mission is crucial to the survival of our planet." Rocky assured her. "Besides she should be home soon, then you can talk."

Before Kat could answer Aisha spoke. "Don't worry about it now. We can catch up and you can talk to Carri when she gets back." She said as she put a hand on Kat's shoulder. She didn't want her friend to get too worked up over Carri's disappearance.

"Yeah…. I suppose." Kat replied with a sigh. She turned back toward Aisha and just as she was going to speak Rocky's communicator went off. Both former rangers turned to look at him as he answered it.

"Go ahead."

"You need to get up here immediately." Billy's voice came through

"On my way." Rocky replied. "I'm going to see what this is about. I'll leave you two to catch up." With that he teleported to the Command Chamber leaving Kat and Aisha on the couch.

* * *

As Kat was pulling into Carri's driveway Kim found herself pulling into the parking lot of the apartment complex where she and Tommy lived. The spots closest to their unit were full and she found herself having to park and walk. As she headed to the door she thought about how she missed being able to pull right into the garage.

While the garage was tops on her list at the moment it wasn't the only thing about living in a house she missed. She liked the privacy, the space, the ability to decorate at will. Not that she would move back in with Carri, she loved living with Tommy. But she would love to be able to live in a house with him. At the moment that just wasn't an option. Tommy owned a house in Reefside. He had always intended to go back there when this conflict was finished.

So much has changed since Rhianna and Callisto first showed up though, including their resuming their relationship and moving in together. They didn't speak much about it as neither was ready to think about it yet, but once they finally defeated the duo Tommy's work was mostly out of Reefside while Kim's job was anchored firmly in Angel Grove. Moving to Reefside and commuting wasn't an option for her, the drive was too much to do everyday. Tommy had been working out of Angel Grove for the last year and she was hoping that when this was all said and done she could convince him to stay in Angel Grove and get a house with her there.

There was no question of how much they loved each other but only time would tell how far that would take them. With a sigh Kim walked through her front door, heading into the living room to find Tommy sitting on the couch with his computer in his lap. "Hey." She greeted

"Hey beautiful." He replied as he sat the laptop aside. He watched her as she headed toward him, sitting on the couch before leaning in and giving him a kiss. "You're home late."

"I stopped by Jase's." Kim said shrugging as Tommy glanced at her oddly. "I was trying to talk him into a blind date with a friend from work."

"Did he go for it?"

"He said yes. So we'll see. Anything's better than Carri's disaster." Kim said with a smile

Tommy chuckled. He had heard the details of the storm that was Emma Price from Kim. "He do anything new with the house?" Tommy questioned out of curiosity. The place Jason lived in was massive and he couldn't help but wonder about it.

"He's working on it. He's talking about hiring an interior decorator and building a garage so he can buy more motorcycles." Kim replied as Tommy shook his head. "What's that for? He can do with it what he wants. It's his house."

"I don't care what he does with it I just want to know how he can afford it." Tommy said as he put his arms around Kim and pulled her in close to him. "I mean he's an online investor and as far as I can tell he doesn't actually lift his finger to do any work."

Kim shrugged her shoulders. "I think he works a few hours each day. And from what he says things are going really, extraordinarily well which is how he got the money to buy the house." Kim said working hard to keep Jason's well guarded secret

"I just find it incredibly odd. I suppose he's just lucky. I mean I heard you could do ok with online investing but he's taking it to a new level. I wish I could make that kind of money with that little effort." Tommy said making a face. "Unless of course he has another source of income he's not telling anyone about."

Kim snorted. "Yeah he's a pimp on the side." She replied as Tommy rolled his eyes. She and Carri both agreed that Jason's buying the house would get the curiosity of the other rangers. And now that he signed a deal with Ausus he was starting to get more money rolling in and he was ready to start his improvements. "Trust me if Jason had a second high income job I would totally know about it."

"You're right." Tommy replied gauging her response. If there was more to the story and Kim knew about it she wasn't letting it show. He was irked by the situation. But if there was something more to it he was certain he'd find out eventually. After all rangers were horrible at hiding things from each other and even worse at hiding things from him.

"Did you do anything exciting today?" Kim asked hoping to derail Tommy's thoughts from Jason's income

"Just work. You?"

"Same." Kim said as Tommy leaned down to kiss the top of her head. She glanced over at the clock on the wall as he did. "We have to go soon."

"I know." Tommy replied as he looked down at her. Although having dinner with a group of current and former rangers was going to be a nice way to spend the evening, he suddenly found himself wanting to skip the entire thing and stay home. But for now he would ignore those urges as he knew they were both looking forward to being able to catch up some with Aisha.

Kim turned slightly and put her arms around her boyfriend, planting a kiss on his lips. "Which means," she paused to give him another kiss, "as much as I want to sit with you I have to go get changed."

"Well," Tommy started but was interrupted by the familiar tone of his communicator. He glanced at Kim who had immediately shifted into ready mode beside him. He pressed a button as he pulled his communicator to his mouth. "What's going on?"

"It's an emergency." Billy said plainly. "You and Kim need to get up here fast."

"Got it." Tommy replied as he looked at Kim. The sharp pair of brown eyes that was staring at him was quite a contrast from the pair that had been looking at him moments ago. Billy's message had put them both into red ranger mode and it was time to move. "Let's go." He said simply as they both stood up and teleported away

* * *

"What's going on?" Tommy questioned as they all arrived in the Command Chamber where Billy and Trini were waiting for them

"It's Callisto and Rhianna. I thought you'd need to have an idea of the big picture before you went down there." Billy said as he worked on pulling some of the action up on screen

"The big picture?" Kim repeated curiously but Billy need not answer as the images came into focus. Callisto and Rhianna were out in Angel Grove along with Cirranadrones and some sort of flame throwing monster. There were sections on fire, including a few buildings and a few cars in the street. "Is anybody hurt?"

"Nothing major yet." Billy said as he shook his head no. "The fire can be easily contained. But Callisto won't let any of the fire trucks near the scene."

"So we need to lure them away first, let the firemen do their jobs." Tommy said as he thought about possible scenarios. The first thing that was important was keeping the city and its people safe from the attack.

"How do we do that?" Rocky asked. It seemed as though they were quite interested in setting fire to just about everything.

"She wants us more than she wants to set the city on fire." Jason was quick to point out

Kim nodded as she thought about it. "We want to take off out of there and get somewhere safe before she catches us. Somewhere we set, somewhere abandoned where her fire can't do any damage."

"I have an idea." Billy said as all eyes turned toward him. "I've been working on some cycles for you guys. They're fully functional except for the parts I was upgrading, but they'll be good for enticing Callisto to follow you."

"That will be perfect." Kim said with a smile

Tommy nodded. "I think I know just what to do." He said, the room shifting toward him so they could figure out how they were going to deal with Callisto

* * *

A few minutes later the rangers found themselves on the battlefield. They snuck up on Callisto's group from behind on their cycles and prepared to make their first attack. As Kim levitated herself in the air the others stood on the ground with their fingers crossed. There was no guarantee this would work but Kim was adamant that there was one pattern Callisto held to and that was when they pushed her buttons she'd get pissed. And when she got pissed she would abandon her original plan as she'd try to kill them. There was one guaranteed way to piss Callisto off and that was to throw everything they had at her.

Kim held her bow high as she prepared to fire. The arrows flung forward and Kim called for the goddess attention just as the arrows hit her. Callisto spun around and Kim went to fire again. Seeing her looming high in the air Callisto went to throw a fireball at her. She hit and disintegrated the arrows, but as her focus was solely on the ranger high in the air she never noticed as the three males fired their pistols at her.

"How dare you." Callisto hissed as she stumbled backwards

"Go." Tommy ordered from the ground as they all retreated toward their cycles

Much like a well trained dog Callisto stood and did exactly what Kim thought she would. Despite Rhianna's attempts to protest the goddess ordered that they take off after them. Once the rangers were sure they were following they slowed down, being careful enough to stay out of their range without getting too far ahead. As they started to distance themselves from the scene of the fires they could hear the sounds of the fire engines as they roared in for the rescue.

It didn't take long to approach their final destination. As they got closer they gained speed, jumping off their cycles and calling for their power cannon before Callisto could get close. The moment she was in range they fired upon her.

The blast hit and Callisto realized that in her rage she had walked right into their trap. This only infuriated her more and she quickly decided that as far as she was concerned this was a failure and she was going to take off before she could stumble into any more of their traps. As she left Rhianna was stunned momentarily, recovering seconds before she took off as well. She was a bit irritated that Callisto had allowed the rangers to let her deviate from the plan. They had planned city wide destruction and Rhianna had even chosen the monster to compliment Callisto's abilities. But all that was done now and the monster was going to be left to its own devices.

The flame throwing monster was surprised to find itself left alone with the Cirranadrones and decided it was going to do some serious damage, starting with the rangers. Before they could attempt to fire their cannon at him, he sent bursts of flames from the cannon on his arm in their direction. The rangers immediately scattered.

Kim stood and grunted. If he was going to spew fire there was one way for her to fight back. "You guys handle the Cirranadrones. I'll take care of our little flame thrower."

"How are you going to…" Tommy's voice trailed off as he watched her transform into the Red Planetary Ranger, the one on the team that controlled and manipulated fire. Although he'd seen her integrate fire into her weaponry he hadn't actually seen her use it. It quickly became evident that he wasn't going to get the chance here either as the Cirranadrones attacked.

"You wanna play with fire?" Kim called out to the monster. "Let's do it."

"Another ranger outfit won't help you against me." The monster bellowed

"We'll see about that." Kim replied as the monster worked on preparing his flame cannon. Kim stood strong as the flames shot forward from his arm toward her for the second time that day. Instead of jumping out of the way Kim held her hands out and braced herself, catching the fire before shooting it back in his direction.

The surprised monster absorbed the hit of the flames and tumbled backwards. "How could you? I'm the only one who can play with fire here." He whined from the ground

"Not any more." Kim replied as she called for her sword, immediately powering it up and engulfing it in flames. She ran to attack the monster, and as their abilities were essentially matched he was having a hard time keeping up with her.

Tommy saw that Kim had a handle on things as he and the other male rangers worked quickly to finish off the Cirranadrones. Using their weapons they took them down one by one until finally the only thing left on the battlefield was the creature currently locked in combat with the red ranger. Jason glanced over at the cannon they had abandoned earlier and turned toward Tommy who nodded. With the monster distracted now was the perfect time to blow him into little fiery bits.

The three male rangers ran over and lifted the cannon from the ground, but they couldn't fire until Kim was safely out of the way. Tommy didn't want to call her attention as he was concerned that if the monster had a chance to react this opportunity would be blown. Finally Kim caught a glimpse of them and levitated herself high in the air.

"You think a little height gives you an advantage over me?" the fire monster asked as he pointed his cannons at her

"No but that does." Kim said, causing the monster to turn just in time to see the beam from the cannon smash into him. As he blew into little pieces Kim landed on the ground and morphed back into her pink ranger form, ready to call on her zord as soon as Rhianna made him grow.

They stood on the ground for a few minutes waiting for the inevitable but nothing happened. Rhianna loomed high above watching them, desiring nothing more than to make the monster grow and let it gain its revenge. But Callisto had already given up on this particular battle and told Rhianna to do the same. She was furious with the rangers for unleashing their firepower on her and even more furious that they were able to. Once they had gotten the best of her she knew that their chances of victory were slim. And as interesting as the goddess found the flame throwing monster she figured it could be easily taken care of by the red fire ranger, and there was no point in wasting magic by making it grow. If they were going to pit a monster against their zords, it would have to be a good one. Callisto left Rhianna alone to pout and whine as she watched the rangers take off unharmed for their Command Chamber.

* * *

"That was unusual." Rocky was the first of the group to point out what everyone was thinking as they powered down in the Command Chamber. The one thing that was all but guaranteed in their endless fight against evil was that the monster fell, grew, and they kicked it down one more time.

"I think we really pissed Callisto off and she gave up." Kim said as she thought about it. She agreed with Rocky and there had to be some explanation for what happened, or rather what didn't. It was certainly odd but in the past they had gotten Callisto to back of for less.

Billy nodded. There hadn't been any activity from the moon after Callisto and Rhianna left the battlefield and he wasn't surprised that they just left the monster be. He wasn't completely sure why but he and Trini had been coming up with ideas while the others were fighting. "Perhaps there was more going on than just this battle."

"Meaning?" Tommy questioned. He wasn't sure if he liked what that implied.

"Maybe she was upset with the rangers before you surprised her." Trini spoke up. This was something she had mentioned to Billy while watching the others fight and he agreed that it was certainly possible and it made sense. "What if Carri and the others have taken all or most of the crystals? She's angry and them and then you guys got to her and she boiled over."

Tommy nodded as he thought about what Trini said. "Let's hope so." That would be the best news he'd heard in a while. "What about the fires?" he questioned

"The fire department got them all put out. Most of the cars are going to end up totalled. One building was completely destroyed and there are three others that will need serious repairs. There are a few reports of civilian burns but other than that we got off relatively easy considering." Trini filled them in on what she learned from monitoring police frequencies

Jason shook his head as he thought about how "easy" they had gotten off. Their once peaceful little town of Angel Grove had certainly seen worse than that before but that didn't make hearing about the destruction that the evil doers caused any better.

"We'll take it." Tommy said with a sigh. He agreed with Jason's sentiments but a little property damage was certainly not the worst that could've happened.

"So is there anything else we should worry about for now? Or is it alright if I get back to Aisha?" Rocky asked. He hated leaving his visiting guest to fight evil, and he hated leaving her and Kat at the house even more. He hoped Kat had left by now. Not that she and Aisha didn't get along, they were close friends and that wasn't the issue at all. The issue was that Carri would probably go nuts if she found out he left Kat in the house like that, especially since she was pretty sure Kat hated her by now after the incident with Chris.

"We will continue to monitor the moon and activity here on Earth. In the meantime we should get back to our plans for this evening." Billy replied. There was nothing more for this team of rangers to do for the time being.

"That's right. We have dinner to get to. I still have to get ready." Kim said, red ranger mode slipping away for the moment as she got excited about dinner with Aisha

"Then let's take off and meet at Bulkmeier's in, say, twenty minutes?" Jason suggested. It was way past their original dinner time but they hadn't been expecting a fight before food.

"We may be a little late. I have something I need to finish up first." Billy said as he gestured to himself and his wife

"We'll go ahead and get everybody there then we'll see you soon?" Rocky said as he looked around at the group who nodded in reply

Billy and Trini said goodbye to rangers as they all teleported out to finish getting ready for dinner. Once they were alone Billy looked over at his wife and smiled. "Shall we finish up and get out of here?"

"Absolutely. I don't want to be late." Trini replied returning his smile

Billy let out a small laugh. "I think we're all running late." He pointed out. The fight had gone well past the time Bulk was holding their dinner reservations for. Fortunately Trini had slipped away for a moment and let Bulk know that they would be a bit late. He hadn't expected them to be there on time as the whole town had frozen the moment the fires started.

"It's a good thing that the town stops during monster attacks." Trini said as she paused to think about it. "Rangers are always late for things that happen during attacks. If the town kept moving around them it would be kind of suspicious."

"Hopefully they'll continue to remain blissfully unaware of our absences in times of crisis." It was something that Billy had found himself concerned with of late. Everyone had someone watching them. Rocky had three schools with classes to teach and work to be done, Kim had a supervisor who was curious to her every move, Carri was beginning to gain the attention of the celebrity hungry public, even Jason and Tommy who had no one directly to answer to had people around to ask questions should they be gone too long for battle purposes. As long as people continued to chalk their disappearances up to fear of monster attacks they would be fine. But if questions were asked he was unsure of what the answers would be.

In their youth they could chalk it up to teenage rebellion; never wanting to do what the adults wanted them to do. But now they were all adults themselves with responsibilities and people who depended on them, people who would find it hard to swallow that they would just up and disappear. It was hard enough explaining Carri's sudden departure, but Kim suggested that the debacle with the tabloids had her flee to the beach in an undisclosed location while she relieved stress. It was a quick fix and easily believable and he found himself happy that she was the one who ended up going as she was the one who they could cover for the best.

With a sigh Billy went to the console to make a few modifications to the rangers new cycles. They had the ability to house advanced weaponry, but he just hadn't had time to finish configuring them before using them in battle. He wanted them to be fully functional before Callisto's next attack, especially since they weren't sure when their team would be whole again. After a few minutes of silence as he sat working furiously on the controls Billy felt the soft gentile hands of his wife on his neck.

"When the monsters come around no one thinks of anything but survival. They're not going to be concerned with what we're doing. It's been that way since Zordon recruited us years ago." Trini assured him as she started to massage his neck and shoulders. She paused for a moment as she thought about Zordon and their first battles for the safety of the universe. Her thoughts shifted as she thought about how she missed their former mentor. She couldn't help but wonder what he would think of all of this if he were still alive.

"Zordon would be proud of us you know." She said shifting the conversation to match up with her thoughts. "Fourteen years later and we all came back together as a team, a strong team. They fight with the enthusiasm of their youth and the intelligence that they've come by through years of being involved, while you stand behind them with the genius to keep all the gears of our little operation turning."

Billy put his hand on top of hers and swivelled his chair around so he would face her. "Don't forget about my beautiful assistant. Without her I'd be nowhere."

Trini leaned down and gave him a kiss as he squeezed her hand and turned back toward what he was doing. Truthfully she didn't do much in the way of assisting Billy, besides giving moral support. She knew a little bit about technology and the machines and pitched it when she was needed, but it was Billy who came up with all the ideas and did most of the operating of the Command Chamber. Science was one of the things she was good at, but it was certainly not something she excelled at, not like her husband.

Billy sat there for a while moments working on some calculations and adjustments while Trini pulled up a chair beside him. She watched intently until finally he turned toward her and smiled. "Are you ready to go to dinner?"

"Is everything up and running?" Trini questioned. She was surprised, it seemed like it was quite the easy task. Of course a lot of things that Billy did seemed easy when in reality they were not.

"In theory. We'll find out when they test it." Billy replied. It wasn't the answer he liked to give but it was the only one he had at this point. The computer could only simulate and attempt so much with the weapons. The only way to truly tell if they worked was to try them out in battle.

Trini nodded. Although it wasn't always a good answer, sometimes it was the only answer. And if they failed in battle it would be frustrating but hopefully not disastrous. "Great then let's go eat."

Billy smiled and nodded before grabbing his wife's hand and teleporting out.

* * *

Billy and Trini were the last of the guests to arrive at the restaurant, but it didn't seem to matter as the others were standing up and talking and hugging. Billy said hello and all eyes turned toward them.

"It's good to see you!" Aisha exclaimed, going over to give Billy a hug before turning and giving one to Trini. "How are you guys doing?"

"We're good. We've been busy with work and, well, other stuff." He said making a brief gesture toward his communicator

"I hear you." She replied with a smile. Although her days of answering a page at a moment's notice were long gone, she certainly hadn't forgotten how busy it could keep you. And even though she didn't regret her choice to leave, sometimes she found herself missing that hectic part of her life. It brought her action and adventure, and most importantly friendships that would last a lifetime.

"Why don't we have a seat?" Tommy's voice called from the back. It was nice that everyone was up and visiting, but it would be much easier to talk once they were all situated around the table.

Aisha smiled to herself as Tommy's voice boomed above everyone else's. She couldn't help but notice the authority behind his words, and whether or not he intended on doing it he came across as the leader. It didn't surprise her, it was one of the reasons why he was regarded by a lot of the former rangers as the greatest red. She let those thoughts slip away as she scurried with the rest of her friends to find a seat. A few seconds later they were all situated at the rectangle table with Aisha in the middle.

As they all looked around they were quick to realize that there were two extra seats. "Who are we missing?" Jason questioned. He knew the answer should be nobody as the team and Billy and Trini were all situated.

Before Aisha could give any answer a heavily accented voice answered for her. "Sorry we're late."

All eyes spun toward the direction the voice had come from. Most didn't have anything to say as Kim shifted uncomfortably in her seat and Tommy's jaw clinched. Katherine Hillard Black was the last person he expected to see that evening. He didn't know who invited her or why she was there and it took a lot for him to not say anything. He was looking forward to a dinner with friends and that wasn't including a former girlfriend who he hadn't spoken to socially since college and it especially didn't include her husband.

It was awkward to see her there and he knew his girlfriend felt the same way. He could tell that the others found the situation a bit odd but they weren't as uncomfortable as Tommy felt. Ever since she left him for Chris their relationship had been strained. They tried to remain friends but it was hard, especially after he started dating Kim. After she quit being a ranger the only times he spoke to her in college were when Carri included her, which became less frequent as the years past. After graduation he hadn't seen her again until the ranger assembly when Callisto and Rhianna returned, and even there he neglected to speak to her. Now he found himself thrust into a situation where he'd have to acknowledge the presence of both her and her less than stellar husband.

"It's ok. Nobody was on time." Aisha assured her. She had been the one to invite Kat to their gathering. She had brought it up while she was visiting with Kat after Rocky left and was surprised to hear that she had no clue they were getting together. She knew Kat had her differences with some of the members of the team but she was still a former ranger and a good friend so she insisted that she come along and bring her husband. Carri wasn't going to be there and she figured how bad could it be? But now she was almost regretting the invite as she noticed the upset, confused looks from a certain corner of the table. However it was too late now and Kat was still her friend, so she sat up straight and prepared to fix the situation. "Why don't you two have a seat."

"Thank you." Kat said as she and Chris took the two remaining chairs. She saw the stares coming from Tommy and Kim and she was thankful she was at the other end of the table from them. Suddenly she found herself regretting that she'd come, but she had really wanted to see Aisha and she hadn't spoken to Billy or Trini in ages. She was on good terms with Jason and Rocky, and as for her relationship with Kim and Tommy they had all had their disagreements over the years which is why they had been happy to not acknowledge the other's existence since college. She had only sent them wedding invitations as a courtesy and not to her surprise neither showed up.

Upon sitting Chris reached over and squeezed her hand and she was happy she had gotten him to agree to come. Even though she assured him Carri wouldn't be there he was still reluctant as the day at Russo's Diner had made him realize that Jason didn't care for him much either and he knew Tommy didn't like him. He wasn't completely sure how Rocky and Kim felt but their relationship with Carri was more important than theirs with Kat and he could only assume they didn't like him either. He only came because Kat promised him that her cousin was the only vocal one in the bunch, the others would ensure that they had a peaceful dinner.

"So how are you guys doing?" Billy asked, watching as Trini gave him a sympathetic smile. She realized that he was trying to diffuse the situation before anything happened and make things pleasant between all of them. Billy and Trini had no arguments with Kat and although they weren't fond of her husband they still attended her wedding and supported her.

"Good. The baby is due soon and that's been keeping us busy." Kat replied with a smile

"I'm happy for you and the baby." Trini said with a smile. "Billy and I have been talking about having kids." Or at least trying she thought sadly to herself. There was no guarantee that they'd be able to have kids. She'd had her power coin for a year and a half and Billy had his for almost three years, plus he had artificially been aged which had to be reversed by the healing waters of Aquitar. None of their circumstances were a good combination for children. Billy suggested trying experimental alien technology. Trini wasn't ready just yet to give up on human conception methods. After all Kat had gotten pregnant after two years of trying. The effects of the six months she held her power coin eventually wore off and she was certain that they would have the same luck. But if they didn't soon she would agree to Billy's ideas.

"I'm sure you'll make a great mother." Kat assured her and Trini grinned in response. Kat looked around the table uncomfortably. "So how is everyone else doing?"

"Fine. Keeping busy with work." Jason was the first to reply. He was a bit surprised by the duo showing up at dinner but as long as her husband kept his mouth shut he wouldn't have a problem.

"Same here. I have three schools, and, well, they keep me busy." Rocky chimed in. He didn't want to insinuate rangering with Chris sitting at the table.

Kat glanced over in Kim's direction who flashed her a smile. She wasn't sure what to think or what to say. Where she and Kat stood she never knew. Tommy's grievances with her were a little more clear cut. But her relationship with Kat strained as Kat's relationship with Carri started on its roller coaster. Adding in her dating Tommy and returning as the pink ranger and that was enough for the two of them to simply avoid each other. It had just seemed easier than having a confrontation and trying to figure out if they were friends or acquaintances or enemies. "Well I'm working for Ashley on her marketing campaigns. There's a lot to do but its fun." She answered. She figured it was best not to ignore Kat and give her something else to hold over her head. She also assumed it would be a good idea to leave her and Tommy's relationship out of the equation. Tommy had always been a sour spot between the two of them.

"That's right I had forgotten you worked for Ashley. I can imagine that would be an amazing job. She's quite the designer." Kat replied. If Kim was going to be pleasant with her she'd be pleasant back. It was better than airing out things that she's been holding onto for years in front of everybody. She was waiting for Tommy to speak, hoping that he'd be polite as well but the look on his face indicated he had nothing to add.

Kat sighed as the waitress came over to take their drink orders. The table hadn't exploded yet and that was a good thing. Hopefully they could enjoy a nice peaceful meal together.

* * *

The Megaship Mark II pulled itself into a holding position in the orbit of the planet that held the last shard. Things seemed quiet from their position and it appeared as though they were the only ones there. Andros went to scan the area where the shard was supposedly held to try and figure out the best course of action for recovering it.

After a few minutes of shifting through information Andros frowned. "This isn't good."

"What's not good?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow

Andros turned toward his three friends. "Would you prefer that I start with the bad news or the really bad news?"

"Really bad news." Karone said figuring they might as well start with the worst

"The really bad news is that somehow Cratus beat us to the punch. He's already down there and has a huge head start searching for the crystal." Andros said

"That's impossible." Karone said, overshadowing Zhane and Carri's quieter more irritated reactions. "He must be tracking us or getting information from us somehow. There's no way he could know to come here."

"I agree. You and I can do a full system overhaul while Zhane and Carri see if they can grab the crystal." Andros said. Before his sister could protest again he went on to elaborate. "Which leads us to the bad news. I can find a patch of land near the shard's location to land the ship on so we can do some searching. It will be a bit of a run to the action but that may give you an element of surprise. The reason I can't get any closer is because this is a lava based world. The shard itself is located in a cave system, one that's filled with lava. The conditions are less than ideal for morphed rangers and if Karone and I tried to go in without powers we probably wouldn't come back out."

"Son of a bitch." Carri said with a sigh. This wasn't exactly the best of situations. She could only hope that they could somehow fool Cratus and get to the shard but he was already in the caves which put them at a disadvantage. She wished that whichever ancient ranger that had hidden their piece here had the foresight to see this coming. Although it was a good hiding spot the conditions were more ideal for a demon to get in and steal the piece than a ranger to rescue it.

"Land the ship where you can and try to figure out how Cratus knows where we're going and we'll go after the shard. There's nothing else we can do." Zhane said with a shrug

Andros looked over at him and nodded. He had always been the easygoing ranger and that aspect of who he was still shined through, despite the fact that he was certain Zhane was aware of how the odds would be stacked against them. "Alright." Andros said as he approached the ships controls. "We're going in."

Several minutes later the ship landed on one of the few safe spots on the planet. As soon as they were safely on the ground they all walked over to the ships outer doors. The doors slowly opened and while they waited Zhane and Carri morphed. "Good luck." Andros said as the doors fully opened

"You too." Zhane said with a smile

"And may the power protect you." Andros added as he shut the door behind his friends and went with Karone to do a diagnostic on the ship

Zhane and Carri stood near the ship long enough to ensure that the doors fully closed behind them. "This way." Carri said as she pointed to the cave formation off in the distance that already housed Cratus and his drones

Zhane nodded and they took off. As they ran across the surface they could see the heat rising around them and they were both thankful that they had their suits to hide under. For the most part morphed rangers were protected from the elements. They would be kept cool even in the extreme circumstances, and they would be safe from breathing the gasses that could've killed Karone and Andros. Their biggest concern was the lava. Although their suits were strong they could still get burned through them, and if they were to accidentally become submersed in lava it would mean certain death.

As they approached the cave they each took a deep breath and glanced at each other. For safety purposes they called on their weapons before heading in and proceeding down the winding tunnels to the bottom caverns where the crystal was. When they arrived at the bottom they could see the pockets of lava everywhere and they quickly realized they would have to work their way around the lava and the Cirranadrones and through Cratus to even have a shot at the small pocket the crystal shard was buried in. Cratus's men were digging furiously and they knew they'd have to move just as quickly if they were to have a chance at getting to the shard first.

Carri glanced over at Zhane who nodded at her and they both quickly leaped over the lava and attacked the first set of Cirranadrone guards. Not to their surprise the Cirranadrones refused to go down quietly and they alerted Cratus to their presence.

Cratus smiled as he saw them. For once he was happy the rangers had showed. He turned toward one of his warriors. "Find their ship. Get the other three shards. And send me more help to hold them off while we retrieve this piece."

The warrior nodded and took off to quickly do Cratus's bidding.

* * *

As the scans on the megaship finished running, Andros and Karone stood on the bridge talking. Both were concerned with the conditions of this particular search and how this mission was to end. While they were discussing what they hoped was happening on the outside, the ships self scans finished.

"So?" Karone asked leaning close to her brother as he examined the results

"There are two trackers on the outside of the ship." Andros replied with a scowl as he pulled up the ships schematics. "One here that appears to only be able to track our location." He said quickly pointing to the location of the device before shifting his hand to point to something else. "And one here that seems to be tracking our computers."

"Which is how they could have followed us and gotten ahead." Karone said more to herself than anything. "Can we remove them?"

"The one in the computer may be tricky. I'll grab that one. You should be able to just pop the other one off." Andros said as he glanced at the image of the ship and thought about it

"Let's not waste any time then. When Zhane and Carri get back we need to be ready to take off." Karone said glancing briefly at her brother. Andros nodded in agreement and they quickly gathered up the necessary equipment before heading outside.

The doors to the megaship opened a second time, this time with Andros and Karone exiting its interior. They each took off for a separate side of the ship. Karone watched her brother until she could no longer see him before she went after the tracking device she was planning on removing.

The device was easy to spot and Karone wasted no time finding it. She walked up to the small device and used essentially what was nothing more than a crowbar to pop it off. Dropping it to the ground she stepped on it and listened to the metal crunch beneath her feet. Deciding her next task would be to go check on her brother she started to head around the ship.

As she moved toward the opening that they had exited moments before she could've sworn she heard movement. The noises silenced and she shook her head. Perhaps the heat was getting to her and she was imagining the sounds. Walking past the opening she heard noises again and she quickly realized that she wasn't making them up. Two Cirranadrones were standing inside the ship preparing to close the doors.

They quickly hit the button and the doors start to shut. "Andros!" Karone called out. But she knew there wasn't time to wait for him to answer as the Cirranadrones would soon seal themselves into their ship. She jumped up and grabbed the bottom ledge as it raised high above the ground, barely pulling herself over and tumbling to the floor before it shut.

The Cirranadrones were surprised; they thought they had most certainly gotten into the ship and gotten the door closed before Andros or Karone noticed. But now standing up before them was Karone who was immediately jumping into fighting mode.

Karone knew that these guys were difficult to fight with powers, and without them her chance of victory was slim. But although she would like nothing more than to get rid of them her main goal was to get them away from the controls and allow her brother access to the ship. She watched as they rushed to attack her and she moved to the side, kicking one and causing him to fall into the other. In the second they stumbled she made her way to the controls, allowing the door to open again.

As light started to pour through the opening of the door the Cirranadrones grabbed her and threw her back, hitting the controls and sealing the door shut once more. Karone tumbled on the floor and as she did she heard the metal of the crowbar she used to remove the tracking device clang to the floor with her. She had all but forgotten about it and was now glad that she'd attached it to her belt. Quickly she grabbed it and snuck up on the Cirranadrones, bashing them each once in the head with it.

They tumbled back and Karone operated the controls once more so that the door would open for her brother. Learning from her last attempt she wasted no time turning to face the two Cirranadrones, who were getting back to their feet. She held the crowbar out in front of her, prepared to use it as a weapon to the very end. They tried to push her out of the way but she was a trained fighter and she was quickly learning all the ways one could attack using such a simple tool.

The door made one last creaking sound as it hit the ground, revealing Andros fighting for his life against a small group of Cirranadrones that had come to ambush him. Karone looked at the two she was fighting against and kicked one while smacking the other with the crowbar, sending them both flying down the ramp. They landed in the middle of the small battle that was going on causing everyone to tumble backwards.

Karone wasted no time going down and grabbing her brothers' hand while beating Cirranadrones down as they tried to stand. She pulled him back up the ramp and hit the controls, staying in a battle stance until the door came to a complete shut. She could hear them banging and clawing from the outside trying desperately to get in.

"We've got to get out of here." Andros said as he raced to the bridge. He had just finished removing the tracking device that was tapping into the computers when his sister yelled his name. By the time he made it to her the ships doors were closed and Cirranadrones rushed at him from all directions. He could only assume their mission was to retrieve the other pieces of the crystal, and he doubted they'd have a problem destroying the ship to get in and get their way. It was why he knew he had to get the ship up into space and put the shields up.

"What about Zhane and Carri?" Karone called to him as she followed hot on his heels

"We'll keep an eye on the surface and send down the gliders when they come out of the cave. But we can't risk the Cirranadrones blowing a hole in the ship to get the crystal shards." Andros said as he arrived in front of the controls and started furiously hitting buttons.

The ship started to shake as though the Cirranadrones had grown in number and were beating on it from the outside. Before the Cirranadrones could do any damage the landing gear lifted, the megaship hovering momentarily before blasting off into the planet's orbit.

* * *

Carri and Zhane's battle wasn't going as well as they'd hoped for. Once Cratus noticed their presence he had swarmed them with Cirranadrones along with a few drones he had that worked for him. None of his workers were very smart, but it quickly became obvious that they were hired muscle if nothing else.

The fight raged on in deep in the caves of the lava based world. It was more difficult than anticipated to get to Cratus. Not only did they have to fight, but they had to avoid the pockets of lava as they didn't want to be destroyed that way. Neither could use their planetary power ups down there, only their weapons for it was much too risky. If Zhane attempted to shake the ground it was likely he would cause too much destruction and lava would come rushing forward. Carri didn't want to risk a lightning strike causing the lava to pop, much like a pan of hot oil.

With the use of nothing more than a simple axe and lance, Zhane and Carri fought their way toward Cratus, trying very hard to stay close together and keep an eye on each other. They had made it halfway to their goal before they were stalled, taking hits and punches from creatures coming out of the woodwork. Just as the fight was at its peak, Cratus spoke silencing everyone.

"Is this what you're looking for rangers?" he questioned holding up the piece of the crystal his minions just discovered

"You're not walking out of here with that." Carri snarled, her voice showing more confidence than she felt

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Cratus replied with a laugh, pulling a small explosive device out of the pocket on his belt. "Tell me, what do you think will happen if I drop this in one of these lava pockets?"

Cratus watched the two rangers tense up as dropped the explosive into the lava pocket and snuck out the back through the smaller more dangerous caves and tunnels from which he entered in an attempt to escape in the few moments before the explosive went off. With this new turn of events Carri suddenly did not care about popping lava and a lightning strike bolted down through the caves, hitting the center of the small group. Cratus's warriors were thrown backwards as lava droplets rose from the pools around them, hitting those good and evil.

Carri and Zhane ignored the sting of the hot liquid, determined to catch Cratus and claim the shard. They headed up the small stone slope that Cratus had been standing on top of moments before. As they did the explosive went off. The pockets of the lava that were scattered throughout started to overflow as pieces of the terrain sunk claiming the lives of those they were fighting against.

Had Carri not used the lightning attack they would have still been down on the lower levels, most likely suffering the same fate as that of their enemies. Fortunately they had moved quickly and the stone slope was higher above the lava than the rest of the floor. They were both silently grateful that she had chosen to suffer through the minor burns as they carefully made their way to the top of the sinking slope, briefly taking one look back as most of it succumbed to the lava.

They headed out the same exit Cratus had used. One look was all it took for them to realize this was going to be more difficult that getting down there had been. It didn't matter though, their entrance had been demolished by Cratus's explosive and they had to move quickly before its effects rippled through the only other exit.

Following the long and treacherous path to the surface was difficult and they both suffered a few burns before they emerged. Neither seemed to mind as the suit would repair itself once they powered down and their burns could be healed. Both looked around for Cratus. Not to their surprise he was long gone by the time they made their way out of the caves. While they were trying to orient themselves and figure out where the ship was, two galaxy gliders came flying toward them.

"Looks like our ride." Zhane said

"Yeah." Carri replied with a sigh. She was pissed off that they had let Cratus get away. And although she was thankful to be alive she was pissed off at all the burns they had gotten from Cratus's actions in the mission. She wanted nothing more than to take her glider to Cratus's ship, beat the crap out of him, and claim the crystal shard.

As their gliders zoomed into space it quickly became obvious that attacking Cratus wasn't an option as the Megaship was the only ship in the area. Carri cursed to herself as they flew up to their designated entrances on the ship, jumping off their gliders and heading directly to the bridge.

"Where the hell did he go?" Carri asked referencing their enemy

"He took off right before the two of you emerged." Karone informed him

Carri's damnit was overshadowed by Zhane's response. "And he didn't pay the ship any attention?"

"We cloaked it." Andros replied. "It's only good if we don't move."

"They tried to get our pieces of the crystal." Karone chimed in. "We decided it was best to play invisible. He looked for a second before taking off. We removed the tracking devices he left to he has no idea where the ship was. He probably figured we took off and were coming back for you two later."

"Or he assumed we were dead and you left before you suffered the same fate." Carri added. She hoped he thought she was dead. That way when she showed up to kick his ass he'd have no idea she was coming.

"We need to get back to Earth. Get you dropped off and report in, then hide the crystals." Andros said as he prepared the ship to depart the planet's orbit

Karone nodded and glanced at Zhane, and for the first time she caught a glimpse of a burn on his neck. "What happened to you?"

"A little contact with the lava." Zhane replied. Despite the fact that parts of his skin were on fire both he and Carri had rushed to the bridge without stopping to acknowledge it. "I think we both have a few burns." He added as Carri nodded

"Why don't you both go get those taken care of." Andros suggested

"Yeah. We should." Carri said as she thought about it. She had tried to ignore them before but they were quite painful and the last thing she wanted to do was arrive home with burn marks.

"Come on." Karone said as she motioned for them to follow her to the infirmary

Andros watched as the three of them exited the bridge. Ones they were out of sight he made a few adjustments to the controls and the Megaship Mark II was on its way back to Earth.

* * *

Rocky found himself pulling into the parking lot of his Stone Canyon school the next morning. It had been almost two weeks since he'd dropped by and he had a few things to check up on. He cut the engine off and yawned and stretched as he climbed out of the driver's seat of the car. He had been up way too long the night before with his friends.

He was actually pleased that the night had gone off so well. Kat and Chris stayed through dinner, with Chris hardly speaking to anyone and Kat really only making conversation with those she knew held no grudge against her. Everyone seemed to be doing alright, and even Tommy and Kim loosened up a little although they were essentially having conversations around Kat and Chris as though they weren't even there. After they ate Kat and Chris called it an early night as she was exhausted and once they left the atmosphere changed as both the conversation and the beer flowed freely.

They had stayed for hours and paid little attention to the time until Bulk came over and told them that the restaurant was all closed down except for their table. Those that had to get up early were the first to pay tabs and take off, dragging the rest of the group behind them. It had been a late night but it was well worth it and at least Rocky had gotten up and moving the next morning.

As he opened the door he decided he would attempt to be as stealth as he could and sneak past the receptionist desk toward the offices. He was pleased to see that Jessica was no where to be found and just as he thought he was going to make a clean getaway she called his name.

"Hey Rocky." She said from behind him

"Hey." He replied giving her somewhat of a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm good." She said as the wheels started turning. "Gosh I haven't seen you in forever."

"I've been busy with the Angel Grove school. You guys do fine on your own, I don't have to worry much." The responsibilities he took care of in Angel Grove had been for the most part delegated out to others in both his other schools. He was grateful for it meant less for him to worry about. Things ran smoothly and he only made trips to the other schools to check in and say hello.

"That means I never get to see you." Jessica said as she pushed her lower lip out. "Maybe we should have dinner sometime, catch up."

Rocky shook his head. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Why because of Carri?" she questioned as he nodded. "You know I saw her on the news the other day about to punch that guy. That shows her anger management issues. Like when she hit me. I was thinking I should go after her again."

Rocky groaned. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with this morning. "No one in the world is going to take up your cause. And if they did, all you'd do is upset her, the one with the family with the money and the power that can turn anything on you in a heartbeat." Carri was not one to flaunt what her family had and probably wouldn't appreciate Rocky doing it. But Jessica had proven that she didn't fear Carri's tactics and he had to say something that would get her attention. When Jessica didn't look as though she was completely buying it, Rocky continued. "And if you do that to her you're doing it to me too and if you cross that line it would destroy our friendship."

"Fine." Jessica said testily as she crossed her arms. Although she was concerned with what Carri's family could do she was more worried about Rocky not wanting to talk to her ever again. "I don't see why you stick up for her. She's a little whore I saw the article."

Rocky took a deep breath as he got ready to respond. Before he could say anything her eyes got wide and she turned to run. "Morning sickness." He heard her say as she disappeared into the bathroom. He was relieved that Mother Nature had jumped in and ended that conversation for him.

As he was about to walk off into the back offices his communicator went off. He quietly slipped into the back and toward one of the unused offices, shutting and locking the door behind him. The last thing he was in the mood for was an attack, but a ranger never really got a choice to when those popped up. "Go ahead." He spoke into his communicator

"They're back." Billy said simply

Rocky had to work to keep the yelps of excitement from coming out as he quickly teleported himself to the Command Chamber. As he looked around he noticed the rest of his team as well as Carri, Zhane, Karone and Andros. "You're back." He greeted with a smile

"Were you successful?" Tommy asked before Rocky could jump into his reunion. There were much more important things than him running off with his girlfriend.

"We recovered three of the pieces." Andros replied. "We came to drop Carri off then we're going to put them somewhere secure."

"What about the last piece?" Kim asked. Three wasn't good enough.

"Cratus got it." Carri grumbled. She was still upset that they'd failed at getting the final piece.

"But I don't think one piece is enough for Callisto to do anything." Karone chimed in. She felt the same as Carri did about the last piece but she didn't think it mattered. They protected the other three pieces and kept Callisto from obtaining the full crystal which was the most important part of the mission.

"Are you sure?" Tommy questioned. A piece of a crystal could still do damage. As Zeo Rangers all they had was one piece each.

"Not a hundred percent but it is said that the crystal contains the power. Nowhere does it say anything about the individual pieces." Karone replied. At least nowhere she was aware of.

Kim sighed. Like it or not it would have to be good enough. "Get those other pieces secured. We'll keep an eye out on Callisto. If she gets anything from her piece I'm sure we'll know soon."

Andros nodded. "It shouldn't take long to take care of these."

"For now don't tell us where they end up. It will be safer that way." Kim said. If Callisto wanted to grab the other three pieces the fewer people that knew the better. "Maybe just Zhane and Karone should go." She suggested as she thought about it. Andros knowing might put Ashley and the kids in unnecessary danger and although Ashley was a former ranger, the kids were helpless and it wasn't worth it.

"She's right." Karone agreed looking over at her brother. "Besides you have a family to go see anyway."

"Agreed." Andros replied. They could take care of this task and he really wanted to get back to his wife and kids. "If you need anything let me know." He added before saying goodbye to everyone and teleporting home.

"You guys should get going as well." Tommy said looking over at Zhane and Karone. He didn't want those crystals anywhere near the goddess.

"We'll be back." Karone said as she and Zhane teleported out, leaving the rangers alone in the Command Chamber

Rocky immediately went over to give Carri a hug. "I'm glad you made it back alright."

"Of course." She replied giving him a goofy grin

"Anything else happen that we need to know about?" Kim questioned. She wanted to settle this mission before Rocky swept her off her feet.

"No, not really." Carri said as she thought about it. "I mean we had to fight Cratus at every stop. He was tracking us and we didn't realize how until the end and we put a quick stop to that. But other than that it was pretty simple." That was all she was going to say on the matter as she was set on leaving out the details of the individual attempts at recovering pieces of crystal, especially this last one.

Kim nodded. "Ok." Just as she was about to suggest they all go back to their daily lives Rocky spoke up.

"Actually there is something else." He said as he reached over to give Carri's hand a squeeze. He had been waiting a week and now he just couldn't wait any longer to tell everyone. The others looked at him quizzically as Carri sucked her breath in. "Carri and I are getting married."

The room grew quite as everyone absorbed what he just said. After a few seconds Billy and Tommy were the first to offer their congratulations while Jason and Kim shot Carri a look that she couldn't miss. The last thing in the world they thought they would hear was that she was getting married. While Rocky was busy talking to Billy and Tommy, Carri shrugged her shoulders and mouthed a "later" to her two closest friends. After Kim and Jason got over their initial shock they gave Rocky their congratulations as well.

"Thank you." Rocky said to the room in general as he was absolutely beaming. He briefly glanced down at his watch before turning toward his fiancé. "I have to get back to my school but I'll see you later?"

Carri nodded. "It'll probably be a lot later than usual. I'm positive I have a lot to catch up on."

"That's fine." He said as he gave her a kiss. "I'll talk to you later." And with that he teleported out.

"I have work I need to return to as well." Billy added. He had been in the middle of a project before getting an alert to come to the Command Chamber. He said his goodbyes quickly before teleporting back to work.

"I was really busy before you guys got here." Kim said in an attempt to get Tommy to agree and teleport out as well.

Tommy nodded. He was trying to get his research to one of the companies he was working for. "I'll be at the apartment." He said as he gave Kim a kiss and left

"Alright well I'm going to work so"

"Not yet." Kim quickly cut her off. "Not until you give us five minutes."

"Don't you have work to do?" Carri asked as she raised an eyebrow

"I'll call it an early lunch." Kim said as she walked over and grabbed Carri's arm, who made a face and looked at her.

Jason chuckled. "She's right, we're not letting you get off that easily." He added as he approached the two girls.

Kim quickly reached over and grabbed his arm as well before using her communicator to teleport the three of them to Carri's house before their friend had any chance to protest.

* * *

"One?" Callisto questioned not hiding her disappointment as she took the piece of the Shadow Crystal from Cratus's outstretched hands. She could still do the ceremony with Rhianna and combine her powers with the one piece of the crystal, and that should be enough for her future intentions as well, but it was going to be much harder than it would with the entire crystal.

"We tried to capture the other three pieces but the rangers"

"Silence." Callisto hissed at him. The absolute last thing she was in the mood for is to hear how the rangers ruined her plans again. She was still furious from the previous day's attack and wanted nothing more than to rip them apart limb from limb. "We will go ahead with the ceremony as planned. Rhianna can still harbour power from this piece."

"Do you want me to go get her?" Cratus asked

"Yes. Do it quietly. I don't want anyone else involved." Callisto replied, watching as he quickly disappeared. She held the crystal up and looked at it. The more she thought about it the more she found herself upset that she only held one piece. She could have done so much with the whole crystal if Cratus had gotten his hands on it. After the rangers kept crushing plan after plan she was upset that she couldn't annihilate them quickly. But it would take Rhianna longer to grow and master the powers of one piece of the crystal, and until she could do that she wouldn't be able to find the gem that would make her the ultimate tool of destruction. Even then she could only assume that the gem could harness enough evil energy from one piece of the crystal to do the damage that she wanted to do. After all this planning and searching it was a frustrating position to be in, but she wasn't ready to give up yet.

"What's that?" Rhianna questioned as she walked into the throne room and caught a glimpse of the crystal shard

"A piece of the Shadow Crystal." Callisto replied

"The Shadow Crystal?" Goldar growled from the back. The goddess immediately stood and turned toward him. "What do you plan on doing with that?"

"I told you to be quiet." She growled as she glared at Cratus. "What is he doing here?"

"I wanted to know what you were planning." Goldar replied. He had seen Cratus and Rhianna sneak off and had gotten curious. He was now more than a little happy he did. "And I won't let you do this."

"Do what?" Callisto asked raising an eyebrow. She didn't know how much Goldar knew about what was going on but it was quickly becoming obvious that he was getting more involved than she wanted him to be.

"Give Rhianna the Shadow Crystal." Goldar growled as he shifted in between Callisto and Rhianna. It was no secret what happened to the crystal's previous owner. He dedicated his life to Lord Zedd and Rita, and Rhianna was their daughter and he would die before he let anything happen to her.

"You mean give her powers beyond her wildest dreams?" Callisto questioned, an eerie calm in her voice as she walked toward him

"That's not all the crystal does and you know it. She won't be your pawn." Goldar replied as he drew his sword and stepped toward her. "I will destroy you before you touch her."

"How dare you." She hissed as she drew her sword and slowly walked closer toward him. "You have been an annoyance for years and now you draw your sword against me – a goddess? You do realize you will perish."

"I am not the one whom this will end poorly for." Goldar assured her as he swung his sword around

Callisto could feel the fire burning at her fingertips. She wanted nothing more than to engulf him in flames. Or even put her sword through his body and watch the life drain out of his eyes. Seconds before she engaged him in battle she had a rare rational thought. She didn't want to kill him, that was too easy and it wouldn't be as satisfying as eternal punishment. And there was one way to punish someone evil, something that would either drive them insane or cause them to take their own lives.

As their swords clanged together Callisto ducked and made her way to his side, giving him a swift kick in the back and causing him to take a few steps forward. While he stumbled she ripped Rhianna's staff from her hands. She really didn't know much about the staff but when she got it for Rhianna she was shown something it could do, something she found cruel and unusual and never thought she'd be able to use until now. Holding the staff firmly in her hands she turned and pointed it toward Goldar, sending a beam flying at him which hit him directly.

"No!" Rhianna cried out as she rushed toward him, only to be stopped by a hard smack across the chest from her own staff. She watched as the energy from the staff surrounded Goldar, lifting him up in a brilliant light and swallowing him whole before spitting him back out to the floor. As the light disappeared the creature on the floor that remained was no longer the winged monkey that raised her. Instead he was a thin, middle aged human male in a Hawaiian print shirt and kakis. He had scruff dangling from his face in a lame attempt at a beard and long black hair pulled back into a scraggily ponytail.

"What did you do to him?" Rhianna asked looking on in disbelief

Callisto ignored Rhianna's question. "Lock him away where he'll never be seen again." She had done the cruellest thing she could think of. She had purified him. He would spend the rest of his days good, having to deal with all he had done while he was evil. Locked in solitaire it would torment him everyday until he snapped and Callisto was looking forward to being there when it happened.

Rhianna watched as Goldar struggled and protested but was eventually carted off. She was confused in a lot of ways. She didn't know her staff had the capability to do that and she didn't know how Callisto knew. And she couldn't believe that the goddess would take Goldar away from her, the only real connection to her parents, the one who had been guarding her all these years and someone whom she considered a real friend.

Callisto took the staff and shoved it against Rhianna's body, and Rhianna grabbed it instinctively. "I don't understand. Why…" she started but she simply couldn't get the words out

"He was jealous of the powers you were going to get and he defied me. He was no longer working with us." Callisto replied gruffly as she took the piece of crystal and looked it over one more time. "Come on." She said gripping the crystal tightly. "We have a ceremony to perform."

Rhianna reluctantly followed Callisto. She felt as though everything seemed wrong now and she didn't know what to do or what to think. But to avoid any more of Callisto's wrath for the day she thought it best to continue along with the plan, ignoring her confusion over what the crystal actually did as the goddess prepared what was needed to give it to her.


	19. Emergence of Powers

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill. Power Rangers Disney. Callisto Universal. Everyone else me. Reference to K and her world KSuzie.  
**Author's Notes:** Thank you all for your patience with this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. The next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long. Real life has finally settled down and I should have a lot of time to write.

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Emergence of Powers"

Carri walked through the halls of Ashley Hammond's clothing company heading for the main office. She had an appointment with Ashley that afternoon to discuss a business proposition. She was surprised that this wasn't something that neither of them had thought up earlier as it was actually a pretty good idea.

It had started as a simple telephone conversation a few days prior. They were chatting about everything, taking some time to catch up. As in any typical "how are things going" conversation work came up. Somewhere in between Ashley's discussing the new line and Carri's talking about filming for what was technically the second half of her season Ashley came up with an idea.

Named designers always got their clothes on celebrities at events and on their shows and although some of Ashley's dress designs had been seen on the red carpet, her everyday wear wasn't getting much television time past advertisements. Not that it didn't sell, but more exposure never hurt. She thought it would be cool for Carri to wear her clothes on the show in exchange for some sort of acknowledgement. So they set up a meeting to discuss details and see where it would go from there.

That was what brought Carri to the secretary's desk outside of Ashley's office. She walked up to the desk and smiled at the woman sitting behind it. "Hello." She started as the woman glanced up at her. "I have a meeting with Ashley."

"Your name?" the woman asked as she looked up.

"Carri Hillard."

The secretary glanced over at the computer screen and pulled up Ashley's appointments then glanced back up at Carri. "She's in another meeting. When she's done I'll let her know you're here."

Carri sighed. "Do you know how long that's going to be?" She was already running a few minutes late thanks to her own work and she still had a lot waiting at the office for her that had to be dealt with before the day was out. She should've rescheduled but she figured a meeting with Ashley would be a nice break out of her hectic day.

"No." she replied as she turned back toward her work.

"Could you find out?" Carri asked as the secretary looked up at her like she was crazy. "It's past my appointment time and I do have other work to do."

The secretary glared at her for a moment before picking up the phone. "I'm so sorry to bother you but I was asked how much longer you would be with Miss Hart." The secretary paused and Carri smiled. "Ok. Thank you." She hung up the phone and glanced up. "She'll be done shortly."

"Employee meeting?" Carri questioned trying to figure out if the Miss Hart was indeed Kim.

"With one of her marketing associates if you must know." She replied, irritated with the questions. "Now if you'll have a seat she'll be with you shortly."

"Yeah." Carri said with a grin, briefly turning toward the seats before marching over to the office door. The secretary scurried behind her but wasn't quick enough to stop her. The door opened up and Carri glanced at the two women sitting inside the office. "Excuse me Miss Hart but you gotta go. You're running into my time and I'm a very busy woman."

"Excuse me Miss Hillard but I don't care." Kim responded crossing her arms and locking eyes with her best friend. Both were trying to hold their cruel stares but neither could help the smiles that were starting to crack.

The secretary spoke up from behind in a panic. "I'm so sorry I'll"

"Oh don't worry about it." Ashley said with a smile. "I was actually going to tell you to send her in but when you identified Miss Hart I thought I'd see if she'd figure it out."

"I'm not stupid you know." Carri said as she walked into the office and the secretary shut the door leaving them be. Kim snickered and Carri rolled her eyes before having a seat beside her. "So what's up?"

"We squeezed in a quick work meeting then Kim decided to stick around and say hi once she realized you were my next appointment." Ashley replied with a smile.

"Good I'm glad you did." Carri said. There was nothing more fun than a girls gossip session as an interruption to ones day.

There was a minute of silence as Ashley glanced at Carri and grinned. "First order of business. You have to let me see it."

"See what?" Carri questioned genuinely confused.

"The ring of course!" Ashley exclaimed as though it were obvious. Word of Carri and Rocky's engagement spread quickly throughout the ranger community. She congratulated her over the phone, to which Carri replied thank you before changing the subject. Now that they were all sitting in the office they could talk more about it.

"Oh." Carri replied with a smile, slowly extending her hand with the ring on it. Ashley was the only other person besides Kim and Jason to ask to see the ring. Of course that was probably because she wasn't announcing it yet to everybody. As her hand slid over the desk Ashley grabbed a hold of it and examined the ring for a moment before letting her have it back.

"It's beautiful." Ashley said with a grin. "Are you excited?" She heard of her initial odd reaction from Zhane but she figured it was early marriage surprise more than anything else.

"Yeah." Carri said giving her what she figured was an excited to be getting married smile. A small laugh escaped Kim's lips and Carri glanced over at her giving her a look. Kim and Jason were the only ones who knew the story behind the proposal and she wanted it to stay that way as the less people that knew the better. Rocky would be crushed if he knew the truth and although she was still a bit taken back by the whole marriage and wedding idea she did want to spend the rest of her life with him so the accidental proposal acceptance had become ok. To keep this a secret she'd gone as far to threaten Jason with all the wrath she could possibly bring down should the scenario end up in a Luke Kirk book. Jason had agreed and Carri wasn't worried, she knew that although he would put a lot of things in his books something of that caliber that she'd asked him to keep quiet he would.

Ashley ignored the exchanged between Kim and Carri and continued on. "I'm here to help with the wedding in any way possible." She said. It was going to be fun for the ranger girls to get together and plan a wedding. She grinned as a thought came to her. "In fact I'm going to make your dress."

"Thanks Ash." Carri said sincerely. Anything she didn't have to think about was good for her. As she sat there glancing from Ashley to Kim the realization hit her that she wasn't going to do this without both of them being there with her. "I'd like you to do more than that. I'd like you to be a bridesmaid."

"Of course." Ashley said as her eyes lit up. They had been friends since high school and Carri had been in her wedding, the least she could do was return the favor.

"And," Carri started turning toward Kim. "I want you to be my maid of honor." Kim had been her best friend, her sister for ten years. There was no one else in the galaxy she'd even consider as her maid of honor. And as long as she was thinking about it for the moment she might as well ask.

Kim looked at her oddly for a second. She wasn't surprised at being asked, if it were her getting married she'd want Carri by her side, she just hadn't woke up that morning expecting that her friend was ready to start picking wedding party members. She quickly shook it off and leaned over to give her friend a hug. "I'd love to."

"Have you thought of who else is going to be in your wedding?" Ashley asked.

"No, not really." Carri replied. She hadn't thought much about the wedding period. She hadn't even been home for two weeks, during which she'd been swamped with work and making up for lost time. The few times she had Rocky spoke about the engagement and the future wedding she had steered the conversation away from planning the ceremony itself. She could tell he was ready to dive right in but at the same time he was still celebrating their engagement and was letting the rest of it slide for the moment. Although she was content with the engagement she was simply taking her time working up to the wedding.

Kim gave her a warm smile before she asked her the next question. "Are you going to ask Kat?" she questioned, grimacing as Carri steeled up. "I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was no but she is still family and she does want to make amends."

"Somewhat." Carri grumbled. Kat was still a sore subject. And she certainly hadn't thought about her in terms of her wedding.

"You'll figure it out I'm sure." Ashley said quickly trying to switch the subject. "What about the basic stuff? Dates? Location?"

"Um, you know, nothing definite yet." By nothing definite she of course meant that they hadn't discussed it yet. And although she was pretty sure Rocky had some ideas on what he wanted to do she hadn't given it any thought. "I'm sure, you know, we'll figure something out soon."

A silence fell over them as Ashley formulated the next question she wanted to ask. Before she got a chance Kim figured out how to change the subject. "So what brings you to Ashley's office today anyway?"

Carri gave her friend a grateful look for switching topics. Not that she didn't want to discuss her wedding with Ashley but it would be on her terms, which meant when she ready to discuss it period. Right now it was still a new and foreign concept to her. She gave Kim a self satisfied grin before answering her question. "Clothes."

"Smart ass." Kim quickly replied. You didn't have a meeting with the head of a clothing company without clothes having something to do with it.

Carri snorted as Ashley elaborated. "We're going to get her in our clothes on TV."

"Really?" Kim questioned. That was as good of an advertising ploy as anything she could come up with. "On the entire cast?"

"We haven't really gotten that far yet." Carri replied. She supposed they could get everyone in Ashley's designs. It was another one of those details that they would have to discuss that afternoon.

"So what have you got?" Kim asked as she looked from one company president to another.

"Carri wants free clothes and I want free exposure." Ashley said with a laugh. That was basically what it boiled down to.

"It sounds like you both have a lot of work to do." Kim replied as she stood. "And for the most part, so do I. So I am going to leave you two be and get back to my own stack of assignments." Ashley and Carri were never going to get anywhere if she sat in there with them and gossiped. So she said her goodbyes and walked to the door, giving them a quick wave as she exited. Closing the door behind herself she headed back toward her office, leaving them to conduct business.

* * *

The work day eventually came to a close for most of the employees under Ashley. Some went home to their families, some went out for a midweek beer, while some went out with friends or family, and in the case of a certain public relations employee a blind date. Cameron Jamison found herself nervously entering the restaurant that her fellow employee directed her to. She was a few minutes early and she hoped that her date was there.

It had been a long time since she'd had a date, especially one with a decent guy. She was pretty and had guys ask her out but most of them ended up only wanting one thing. She'd always been shy when it came to guys, girls too for that matter, and she supposed that was why she was having trouble finding someone. She was glad that Kim befriended her shortly after she joined the marketing department and she was even happier when she recently suggested that she hook her up.

She trusted that Kim wouldn't set her up with a less than stellar date. Kim promised that the man in question was a really good guy. She said that he'd been like her brother for years and that he was a lot of fun and regardless of whether or not they started dating they'd have a good time. She'd seen his picture and she was excited to meet him. She hoped that Kim was right and that she'd have a nice date.

Taking a deep breath she walked up to the host and smiled. "Excuse me?" she said softly. The host barely noticed her and she spoke again. "Hello." She said, her words a little louder this time to get his attention.

The host glanced up from his papers and looked at her. "Do you need a table?"

"Actually I, um, well, I don't know. I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. Jason Scott. Do you know"

"Right this way." The host cut her off as he gestured for her to follow him. He sat Mr. Scott earlier and he'd asked that he be on the lookout for his date. He led her through the restaurant and toward the table.

Cameron smiled as they approached Jason's table. The host announced their presence briefly before leaving to seat other customers. Jason looked up from the menu and smiled at her. "Hello." He greeted. He was quite pleased as already this was looking better than Carri's disaster as Cameron had arrived early. "I'm Jason Scott."

"Cameron. Jamison." She said nervously.

"Go ahead, have a seat." Jason said as he gestured to the chair in front of him. As she sat he looked her over. She wasn't the bombshell that Carri had set him up with but he found her kind of cute. He waved for the waiter who swiftly walked over toward them. Cameron ordered a glass of wine and the waiter took off.

Jason was silent for a moment as he allowed Cameron to look over the menu before he struck up a conversation. "So you work for Ashley?"

"Yeah. In PR." Cameron replied softly, watching as Jason nodded. He knew a bit about public relations. "It's nice. She's a good boss."

Jason nodded, noting that Cameron was quite soft spoken. He wasn't sure yet if that meant she was just quiet or shy. Only time would tell. "Not surprising. She's a good person."

"You know Ashley?" Cameron replied, genuinely shocked. Jason didn't strike her as a person who hung around with the fashion industry types. Especially since according to Kim he was an online investor.

"Yeah I've known her since high school." Well close enough anyway. He knew her in college and had said hello to her once or twice at Angel Grove High when he saw her after class with Carri.

Cameron looked at him curiously. "So are you from here?" She questioned. Kim hadn't given her much of his background. She knew he was a good friend of hers, a well off online investor and a genuinely decent guy. That was really all she needed to know to agree to the date.

"Yeah I've spent most of my life in Angel Grove. With the exception of the four years at USC and the two years I was in Europe as a teenager." Jason replied.

"Europe?" Cameron questioned her eyes growing wide. Europe was one of those places she always wanted to go to see Rome, Paris and London and who knows what else. But a trip to Europe was something that always eluded her.

"I was selected to go to the Peace Conferences when I was sixteen. It was an amazing experience but I was glad when it came time to return home." Jason elaborated as he lifted his beer glass and took a sip. "What about you? Are you from here?"

"Me?" Cameron practically squeaked, wondering if she came across as a California girl. Of course she didn't meet many women in this area that came across as the stereotypical California girl she grew up with on TV, so really she didn't know why she couldn't pass for one.

Jason let out a little chuckle at her odd reaction. Cameron blushed before pulling herself together and answering the question. "I'm from Henderson, Nevada. It's right outside of Las Vegas, the city I eventually ended up in when I went to UNLV. I spent a few years in Chicago with my first job before winding up here with Ashley."

"I've been to Chicago once before a long time ago. It was a nice city." Jason commented. The trip had been a few months after their final collegiate battle as rangers. Jonathan Hillard had a crew shooting a movie there, one that had managed to land the talents of a certain male movie star that both Kim and Carri were crazy over. Carri convinced her dad to fly them out and the five rangers plus Emily were off for Chicago, where the two girls were granted a grand total of five minutes with Mr. Pitt before he was rushed off and they went to see the city. Five minutes was all it took to keep them going on for weeks.

Jason smiled to himself as he thought about that trip. It was one of the last times he and Emily were truly happy. Things started heading south shortly thereafter, but those few days in Chicago were pure bliss. They got to see the sites together, enjoy a romantic dinner for two, sit outside of the balcony wrapped in blankets as the city got some early snowfall. And the sex, well those memories alone were enough to make him want to jump up from his seat and run to be in her company. He caught a glimpse of Cameron and that was enough to make him cool those thoughts. He couldn't, he wouldn't run out on her for Emily. Despite their past desires and feelings, his and Emily's relationship wasn't like that anymore and he still didn't feel as though their status could change no matter how interested he was. Not to mention that Cameron was a nice girl and she deserved his undivided attention. His running off mid date was something reserved for full of themselves actresses.

"It is a nice city. I keep meaning to go back and visit sometime but I'm always swamped with work." She said. She hardly noticed as the waiter returned, setting her glass of wine in front of her. Glancing up at him she gave him a shy smile as he asked for her order. Quickly she made her pick and Jason made his before the two of them handed over their menus.

"So." Cameron stated softly, giving Jason a smile as the waiter walked off.

Jason smiled back. He was starting to lean toward shy over quiet. But it was ok. It seemed as though he was going to enjoy her company. He certainly didn't feel as though he couldn't give this date a chance, at the very least for Kim's sake. And although he wasn't interested in a relationship, he didn't see why he couldn't have a good time. He thought for a moment looking over at her before striking up a new conversation.

* * *

Kim stood in the small living room of the apartment she shared with Tommy. She was alone as Tommy had gone back to Reefside to meet with some of the companies he was doing research for and wouldn't return until the end of the week. For the moment she was absorbing the silence around her, getting ready for what she was about to do next. She was glad that Tommy was gone for a few nights, it made what she had been doing easier.

What she had been doing involved things she had yet to disclose to everyone around her. She would eventually tell her friends, tell Tommy about her sneaking around. She'd only been confident in doing it for the last few nights which was why she hadn't said a word. Carri she'd more than likely confide in sooner rather than later. With Tommy, well she would tell him soon but only when she could figure out the best way to say what she needed to without worrying him more than he already is.

She had promised herself that at this point she would tell Tommy more and she wasn't going to back out on that promise. This point being somewhat of a mastery of her teleportation abilities. She was surprised and grateful that she'd finally gotten a hold of it. It had started happening two weeks prior. She'd teleport where she wanted to go in her dimension and teleport back with only minor issues. Once she was confident in that part of her ability moving through time and dimensions quickly followed. Kim had been quite proud of herself and every down moment she found herself with had been spent teleporting everywhere just to prove she could do it.

Time travel through her home dimension as well as traveling throughout her home dimension took some time to figure out but for the most part she got the hang of it. Although she had good training and had gotten the hang of it, travelling to places she knew was still challenging. She was confident enough in her abilities not to bother with Dulcea's crystal anymore, but she still had oops moments that reminded her that what she was doing was powerful and dangerous. It helped that with most of the locations she travelled to she had a clear idea of where she wanted to go and she could get herself there. Crossing dimensions was more difficult as she really didn't have locations to go to. She could get to other dimensions but none in particular.

Part of the problem was she didn't really know of any other dimensions. But the more she thought about it the more she thought about how she had visited other dimensions and perhaps she could travel there. She knew it could be done, after all K did it. But she had never really gone to another dimension intentionally. Just the thought got her heart racing. A chill shot threw her, the kind one got just before jumping on the big roller coaster. Part of her knew it was going to be a rush and part of her was somewhat afraid to do it.

Despite her feelings she wasn't intimidated by crossing dimensions and she wanted to try it, to see if she could find her way back on her own. The first dimension she thought of had been one she visited while in college where the Power Rangers were nothing more than a children's television show. She popped into the dimension and got hit with a sudden adrenaline rush unlike anything she'd ever experienced before, one that simultaneously thrilled and scared her. Once she calmed herself down she decided to poke around a bit. Library access had allowed her to pull up old newspaper articles and she looked up ones regarding the convention she accidentally stumbled into all those years ago. Satisfied she'd stumbled on the right world she moved on to the next one.

While the first world from her college years brought her humorous memories, the second world she took herself to did not. She didn't know why she went there. She wanted to continue to test her dimensional abilities and the rush of adrenaline they gave her. Only her experience was limited and she supposed that's why she picked this world in the first place. The second world found her in Mariner Bay. The city had rebuilt since the last time she was there and it resembled the bright metropolis that Mariner Bay was back home. It didn't take much walking around to find the scars of her last visit.

She stumbled upon a cemetery, a memorial cemetery. There was a sea of markers but it only held one person. It almost held her. Instead it held the body of every other Kimberly that had been brought to that world, only to have their life force used against their will, their bodies eventually drained by Kemora. Briefly she walked up to the newest grave the cemetery held. The memories of that Kimberly rushed back to her with a force that surprised her. She had all but forgotten about her. How she could have forgotten she did not know. Perhaps the memories were too painful for her to hold on to. She wouldn't forget again. Tears slid down her cheek as she thought about how she held the young Kimberly with promises of helping her. But she was not to be helped, and with courage and strength that came from knowing Kemora was gone the young Kimberly died in her arms.

Sorrow turned to bitterness as Kim realized the young Kimberly's relief at the time of her death was for something that was only temporary. Kemora was very much alive, the only thing stopping her from the havoc she was capable of causing was the fact that she didn't have a body. She had escaped this world and gone on to torment many more Kimberly's. Gone on to torment her again. She had yet to decide if it was a gift or a curse bestowed upon her by Kemora as she threw her into the pit. There was still a lifetime, one that no one could possibly comprehend, left to figure it out.

Kemora made her think of the most recent world she visited, and she left the depressing graveyard and made one final stop on K's home world. The moment she arrived she realized she had gone from one depressing world to another. This world was just starting clearing out and rebuilding from Teeg's attacks. What remained of what she assumed was once a similar landscape to her own was depressing, a reminder of the annihilation its inhabitants almost suffered.

The longer she stood there and looked around, the more the world started to give her a different feeling. Despite the destruction that had occurred at the hands of Teeg this world was still standing. That was a testament to K and the rangers of this world both past and present and everything they accomplished. As the alternate Carri had said, any world that faced the towers was destroyed. But not this one. This one was a glimmer of hope for any other world that may one day be faced with the dark towers looming over their cities.

Kim smiled and decided to teleport home before anyone realized she was gone. Although she had a feeling that K probably knew. She had who knows how many decades of experience on her and she didn't think she could slip into K's home dimension without alerting her. But even if K did know she was there, she didn't make herself known and Kim made her way home within moments of her departure.

After her dimensional experience she had taken a few days off, and this past Sunday after Tommy left for Reefside, she teleported herself to Phaedos. She started there, saying hello to Dulcea before heading into the quieter parts of the planet. Her first experience away only lasted a year, and during that time she worked on other powers that she wanted to develop. She returned home five minutes after she left and promptly went to sleep.

She awoke the next morning and went to work, before coming home and making another trip to a different spot. This time she was gone for three years. Last night she spent five years in a third location. She was thirty-eight years old. After tonight she'd pass forty. Yet she still looked as though she was only twenty-eight, turning twenty-nine in a few months. It was still hard to swallow but she was starting to get a hold of the idea.

It was something that was hard to do. Although Tommy had only left four calendar days ago it had been nine years since she'd seen him. All she wanted to do was put her arms around him, locking him in the apartment with her to make up for lost time. She loved him and she hated that she'd spent another chunk of her life without him. Nine years was the longest she'd gone without his touch since they met, including the two breakups. It was going to be a relief to see him again. She didn't know how she would restrain herself from pulling him to the floor the moment he stepped through the door. She knew she'd have to try. She didn't want Tommy to suspect what she'd been up to but at the same time the thought of him made her not care.

The only thing that kept her from going insane the nine years without Tommy was the fact that they had been a focused, driven nine years. She left because she had to. She left to get a hold of her abilities, to be able to protect herself against threats that were destined to come after her. She couldn't play it safe, enemies throughout the galaxy were getting word of who she was. They would try to kill her, kill her friends, her family.

She had learned so much in the time she'd been gone yet she felt as though she only scratched the surface of her abilities. Every time she took off she learned a bit more yet felt as though she had more to learn. It was exciting and nerve-wracking and frightening all at the same time. She wanted to dig deeper, she wanted to stay longer and work harder. She had realized the night before that five years had been too long. She had work and responsibilities at home and five years was much too long to not think about those things. Three years had been pushing it and she knew it at the time but she had gotten involved in what she was working on and time flew by.

Although Ashley had never said anything Kim suspected she knew something was up. At the very least she could tell that Kim had been acting a little strange the past week. Kim had done work the previous week, and the first weekend's year long trip had made her a little slow on Monday. But she caught herself up easily before taking off for three years that night. Tuesday was a challenge. She was doing work on things she had been briefed about years ago and she had to figure out where she left off in order to move forward. She had certainly stayed at work longer than she wanted to. Today, well today had been a struggle. She was more than a little disoriented and it took her a long time to get herself caught up. Because of that she created detailed notes and reminders so she could do some work tonight and hopefully jog her memory quickly the next day.

Between missing Tommy and slacking on work, tonight's trip would only be two years. Then she would return, rest and get up and go to work. She was contemplating taking the next night off, maybe the next few nights if anything just to give herself a break. But for now it was off to Eltar.

* * *

Callisto sat in her quarters shortly after one o'clock in the morning Earth time. She didn't sleep. She didn't need to sleep, she was a goddess. She did rest. It gave her a chance to think, to gather her thoughts. And most importantly plan her next move.

She thought about everything that had happened since Cratus returned, starting with that wretched former monkey Goldar. She had thrown him in the dungeon where he'd been locked up, his only contact being with the creatures that would bring him the slop he was allowed to eat in order to live. She didn't want him to die in there. Not yet anyway. His soul was eating away at his former self, bit by bit, day by day. She had seen him the previous day and there was no denying the effect that hundreds of years of evil had on the now purified Goldar.

The biggest challenge with putting him in the dungeon alive was keeping Rhianna away from him. She had been spotted peeking down there on the first few nights but one of Callisto's guards steered her away. The problem was she couldn't waste her resources guarding Rhianna and the junior witch had to know that she couldn't waste time fooling with her former ally. She used the powers she had at her disposal and her resources to build an impenetrable force field around the dungeon. The only ones she allowed in were the creatures that watched the dungeon.

Since Rhianna figured out there was a force field around the dungeon she hadn't attempted to go down there. Of course it helped that Cratus took her away shortly after Goldar was turned to work with her new abilities. The ceremony with the one shard of the crystal was a success. She soaked up its power and it bonded to her, the single shard being absorbed by the skin on her chest, sitting there as the crystal did on the last being that tried to use its powers.

As for how much of the power she absorbed, that was still uncertain, as was whether or not it would be enough for her to move on to the next step. Only time would tell. For someone who was over two thousand years old she didn't have any patience and didn't want to wait. But she would have to until Rhianna was ready as how much time it took depended solely on her.

The owner of the crystal had to fully develop its powers in order to take it to the next level. There was no magical time table on when this would be done. Rhianna would have her powers fully developed when she was able to. No one could force her to go any faster. She could lessen the distractions which is why she sent her off with Cratus. At last report she would be back soon, ready to test what she'd learned.

That was a sliver of good news that had been received several hours ago. As soon as Rhianna got back she'd test her. The only accurate way to test her was to just throw her into the field of battle. If she was completely joined with the crystals powers and knew how to use them she would be a fierce warrior in battle. If not she'd have to go back to isolation where she'd continue to reach out to the crystal and learn what it had to show her. She was hoping that wasn't the case, that she'd crush the rangers and be ready to move on to the next stage, the one where the rangers wouldn't be able to stop her.

At the mere thought of the rangers the goddess grunted. She loathed them especially after their last battle. She wanted them dead. It would be more than a little pleasing if Rhianna could just finish them off right now and then she wouldn't have to worry about her having to obtain the gem and go for total annihilation. She hadn't even attacked the rangers since she'd received the crystal. Cratus was gone and any monster she could figure out how to make wouldn't be strong enough to do any damage.

Of course she still had herself and the Cirranadrones. Although she was still angered by their last encounter and didn't want to go face them personally until she was she had a plan. She had thought long and hard about it but they were aware of her normal tactics and she wouldn't attack with anything less than stellar. Which left her with Cirranadrones and a potentially pathetic monster. The more she thought about it the more she thought about how at the moment she had something else on her side. The early hours in the morning. She didn't expect to defeat the rangers right now. But she could certainly make them angry. And until Rhianna was ready that would be a fun way to pass the time.

* * *

It was two thirty in the morning and Kim found herself morphed and standing in front of some sort of crazy combination of a tiger and the troll doll monster they had fought in one of their earlier battles against Callisto and Rhianna's forces. The body and head were the same shape and color as a tiger only it had stubby troll like arms and legs. It also carried a troll gem on its belly and crazy, whacked out, purple troll hair.

Looking at the monster Kim shook her head and sighed. This was the last place she wanted to be right now. She had worked hard for the last two years on her powers since she'd left work that afternoon. There was a lot of trial and error, a lot of frustrations and a lot of progress. When she returned home she spent some time reviewing some work related stuff so she wasn't so behind in the morning. Once everything was said and done, all she wanted to so was crash. She had been looking forward to a good night's sleep and certainly didn't want to deal with this. The monster reminded her of something Rita would've thrown at them and she had to wonder if this was Callisto or Rhianna's idea of a joke.

As she looked around the battlefield she noticed all of her teammates teleporting in with the same sluggish movements. None of them wanted to be there any more than she did. For a moment she paused on Tommy and grinned from behind her helmet. Despite the fact that she wanted to go back to bed she couldn't help but think all the naughty things she'd be doing to him right now if they weren't faced with Cirranadrones and a monster.

"Are you freakin' serious?" Carri asked pulling Kim out of her thoughts. She was not one for an early morning wakeup call and she certainly didn't appreciate when it was Callisto's goons doing the calling.

"The benefits of being a ranger. You can be called to battle at any time." Kim commented. They wanted to be rangers and so they got all the great stuff that came along with it.

"Yeah but at two thirty? And come on…. We got dragged out of bed by this reject? We're just going to have his ass kicked in five minutes. Can't we just say we did this already and get it over with? I want to go back to bed." Carri complained. She glanced over at Kim and caught Tommy shaking his head.

"We're not going to have anyone's ass kicked in five minutes if we don't get into gear." Tommy pointed out as he reached for his weapon. He wasn't any happier about being there than anyone else and Carri's whining wasn't helping the situation.

Carri rolled her eyes as the others called for their weapons as well. "Whatever." She said with a sigh, calling on her on weapons as she ran to join the battle.

The battle went the way of any normal ranger fight. The tiger troll was shooting at them from the gem in his stomach while they were battling the Cirranadrones and trying to get shots in when they could. The problem with getting shots in on the monster was that its tiger claws had powers as well. Any time they would attempt to get near him and his gem he'd slash them back, giving them quite a shock in the process.

Eventually they decided it would be much easier to focus on the Cirranadrones before turning their full attention toward the monster. It wasn't long before Carri wasn't the only one grunting and grumbling about their predicament as they fought the battle.

Jason found himself ducking out of the way of the blast of the tiger troll, allowing it to hit and destroy two oncoming Cirranadrones. "Great if he could finish the job for us we could go home." Not that the job was hard, in fact it was quite the opposite. But he hadn't been in bed much longer than an hour when his communicator went off. And although he usually didn't complain about battle he had an early morning meeting with his publisher and wasn't in the mood to deal with the clone Cirranadrones and a monster that despite his weaponry, wasn't as smart or powerful as the ones they usually faced.

"Well maybe they should just give up. They're losing anyways." Carri was quick to point out as she took out two Cirranadrones of her own.

Kim snorted as she levitated up and shot three Cirranadrones. "After all the bad guys we've seen over the years, no matter how bad their losing have they ever been smart enough to give up?" She asked as she hit the ground.

"Point taken." Carri replied as Tommy shook his head.

"Let's just finish these guys off," Tommy started as he took done some of the few remaining Cirranadrones, "and we can all get back to bed." He ignored Carri's grumblings as they worked hard to get rid of any remaining Cirranadrones. A few minutes later the field was empty of everyone except the rangers and the tiger troll monster. Tommy took the lead as the others fell into formation around him.

"We need to get to that gem." Rocky pointed out more to himself than anybody.

"Anybody have any ideas?" Carri questioned as her wheels started turning.

"If someone could keep his claws out of the way I can get a few arrows in." Kim said quickly as they all maneuvered to the side of an oncoming blast.

"If the four of us rush him that should distract him long enough to get a good shot in." Tommy suggested. He made a quick glance at the other three rangers who nodded in agreement. Tommy saw Kim levitate for a better angle as he and the others took off running, Rocky and Carri to the monster's right side and Tommy and Jason to its left.

The tiger troll was pretty predictable as it took one hand to deal with the red and yellow rangers while using the other to fend off the white and black rangers. As he was busy slashing them back Kim fired several arrows toward its gem center. With the ranger distraction the monster didn't have a chance to use its claws to divert the arrows. They hit the gem and destroyed it, causing the tiger troll to fall back and burst into flames.

The rangers regrouped and gathered around the spot where it fell, glancing into the sky and waiting for the inevitable. A few moments went by with no city wrecking monster. Kim sighed. "I suppose they decided there was no point in continuing this battle."

Carri snorted. "They probably went back to bed. Ya know, the place I want to be."

"I think we all do." Tommy agreed absentmindedly. "It looks like this is it so we'll call it a night. Let's try to get some rest." The others issued words of agreement as one by one they teleported back to their homes.

* * *

It was nearly eleven thirty the next morning and although there was work that needed to be done both Carri and Rocky were still laying in bed. Thanks to the battle, despite Carri's complaining both of them had been wide awake when they returned home. It took a while for them to wind down and get some sleep. It didn't help matters that as they laid in bed Carri's cell phone would go off every half an hour.

She didn't know who would be contacting her at this late hour, but at the moment she wasn't concerned. For a true emergency she could be reached on her communicator and therefore declined to answer her cell phone. The fourth time it went off she reached over to smack the button to silence the ring. With one eye open she watched as she hit the phone hard and it fell off the nightstand, the battery falling out and sailing across the room as the phone bounced on the floor. Figuring it was a good enough solution for the moment she went back to sleep.

Rocky had suggested she answer the phone as it could be a non ranger related emergency but she was tired and cranky and refused to even acknowledge it ringing. As Rocky woke the next morning the first thing he thought about was the phone that was in pieces on the floor. Glancing over at the alarm clock he decided that it was more than past time for both of them to be up. Rolling over he gave Carri a little nudge. "Hey babe."

Carri grumbled an unintelligent response and Rocky continued. "It's eleven thirty. I think it's maybe time for both of us to attend to our businesses."

There was more mumbling and a distinctive "crap" before Carri lifted her head off the pillow and glanced over at Rocky. Maneuvering onto her back she pulled herself up and sighed. "I guess I should make my way to work." She said pausing briefly before adding, "Damn Callisto."

"You want to put your phone back together?" Rocky reminded her of the interruptions of the night before.

"If I must." Carri said as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The phone itself was easy to find as it had clunked down in the precise spot that it hit. The battery proved to be more difficult as it skipped and skidded until it found its way underneath the dresser. Putting the phone back together Carri went to sit back on the bed, waiting as it booted up.

"Eight messages?" she questioned as the voicemail flashed. She couldn't imagine what kind of emergency that could have happened that would have left her with that many voicemails. She dialed into her mail box and listened. The first four left were the same and Carri cursed to herself thinking about how much her cousin was probably going to hate her now. Her aunt had left four messages, all of them saying that Kat had gone into labor and that Carri was on the list of people she'd given her a few months ago that she wanted to be there when the baby was born. It was super important to her that all her friends and family were there.

She almost dreaded going, dreaded getting snide comments from Kat about what could be more important than her birth. She listened to the fifth message and flopped back onto the bed, thinking of how the trip to the hospital was going to be worse than being tortured by Callisto. The fifth message was from a few hours ago from her mother. She had flown into town on the jet along with her father and brother. They wanted to be there for Kat's birth since she was "the only child in the Hillard family that was going to have legitimate children" as she and her brother were hopeless. Her mother ended the message asking if Carri could be bothered to be there.

The final three messages were from work, and Carri listened to those before letting out a painful groan and calling out her fiancé's name. She glanced at the bathroom door until he appeared in the frame, brushing his teeth and giving her a questioning look. "Those early morning calls? Kat's gone into labor and my presence has been requested at the hospital. And by requested I mean if I don't show up I'll be on the shit list again."

Rocky disappeared for a moment and she heard the water in the sink run and the toothbrush clink back into the cup before he reappeared. "Do you want me to go with you?"

She let out a long painful sigh. "My parents are already there."

"So? I've dealt with your parents before." Rocky replied.

Carri rolled herself into a seated position and turned to face him. "You seriously want to go?" she asked. She couldn't imagine him wanting to, it was the absolute last place she wanted to be.

Rocky walked over to her and leaned on the bed putting one hand on each side of her as he leaned down. "Of course I do babe. If it's something you have to do I'll be there for you. It's what this getting married thing is about."

Leaning up, Carri gave him a kiss. "Thank you." She replied, smiling him a giving him another quick kiss. "Now we need to get moving because I'm already in trouble."

Rocky stood up and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the bathroom. "What are we waiting for? Let's do it." He said as they both started to rush to get dressed to face their day.

* * *

In a small café across town Jason sat waiting for Emily to arrive for lunch. He had talked her into coming out with him on her lunch break and they were meeting at a little known lunch spot. He wanted to be able to take her to Bulkmeier's, but he knew if the wait staff didn't spill his lunch meeting either Bulk and Skull would. Although neither knew much about their relationship past high school, both would find it interesting to tell the others just who Jason was hanging out with.

As far as the others were concerned Jason could care less if Emily existed and was currently looking around for his next girlfriend. It was why he let Kim and Carri both set him up. Hopefully they'd both leave him alone now as he did not want to go on any more blind dates. Emma had been the most self absorbed date he'd ever had and he couldn't wait to forget her. Last night with Cameron in all honesty went alright.

Unlike his last disaster he and Cameron went out their entire date and actually had a pleasant time. After dinner they went to a movie and then he took her for a ride on his motorcycle, dropping her off at her house before calling it a night. He found himself enjoying her company. She was plain but still pretty, nice, sweet and definitely shy. The one thing she wasn't was Emily and he just couldn't get past that fact. Besides even if Emily wasn't in the picture he figured they'd go on a few dates, maybe even start dating for a while before it ended. It didn't matter how nice she was, she wasn't in line with him on anything from taste to personality to issues. They would have eventually parted ways and stayed friends. Instead of wasting both their time dating while he had feelings for another woman, Jason was going to leave their time together at last night's date.

Glancing up from his seat he noticed Emily making her way toward him. He smiled and waved as she smiled and waved back, the look enough to send chills down his spine. Taking a deep breath he collected himself as she sat down across from him. "Hey." He greeted her once he was confident enough that he could hide all of his emotions.

"Hello." Emily replied in the same cool, collected tone that Jason just used. She was enjoying all the time she was spending with him and was thrilled that he asked her out to lunch. As "just friends" they were doing a lot of things lately and it was nice. Of course Emily still got that more than "just friends" shiver every time she saw him. But there wasn't much she could do about it. She screwed that up a long time ago and she had learned to live with it despite every ounce of her calling out to the man whose eyes she was staring into. "How are you?"

"Good." Jason replied, noticing her beautiful blue eyes holding his. He didn't want to break eye contact but he almost felt as though he should before he got himself into trouble. "And yourself?" he asked glancing away.

"Doing just fine." Emily replied. She was grateful that he looked away before she melted into him. Composing herself she continued on. "I saw the news this morning. Someone had an early wake up call."

"Yeah." He replied with a sigh. "Not quite what any of us wanted. We were all tired and some of us wouldn't stop complaining but it was fairly quick out and back."

"One of your little job perks?" Emily teased.

Jason grunted. "I wouldn't exactly call it a perk." He noticed her grinning at him and he gave her a half smile back. "It doesn't matter how exhausted you are, once you get called out like that it takes a while to wind back down again."

"I'm surprised you made it up for lunch." She continued to tease him. She knew what the life of a ranger was. She'd seen him go out and come back bursting with energy. There were a few late nights he spent some of that built up energy on her and those were some of her favorite moments.

"I promised I'd meet you here." Jason replied. Which translated into he wouldn't miss time spent with Emily for anything. Even if he'd spent his entire night fighting monsters.

"I'm glad you keep your promises." Emily said with a grin. Although she'd understand, she would have been disappointed if he hadn't made their lunch date. She hadn't seen him the night before and after work she was taking off with a few girlfriends to spend the next three days on the beach. It would've been at least Monday before she could see him again, and despite the fact they weren't dating she didn't want to go that long without hanging out.

Her girlfriends were already giving her grief about it. She knew she was going to get an earful that weekend. They simply didn't understand how she could like someone so much and be content with being just friends. They never would fully understand. They knew she cheated on him and said that if he forgave her she should just take that as a sign to try again. But there was so much more background that she could never tell them.

"Shall I wave down our waiter so we can order?" Jason asked.

"Sure." Emily replied. Although she wanted to sit here with him all afternoon she still did have a job to get back to. She watched him as he glanced around for their waiter and tried to flag him down. She let out a small sigh as she thought about what they once were. At least they were friends again.

* * *

Shortly after noon Carri and Rocky wandered into the waiting room of the maternity ward of the hospital. Sitting in the small crowded area were several faces, some more familiar than others. Chris's parents were there giving her a look of annoyance, although it wasn't half as bad as the one her mother gave her when she saw her and greeted her with "it was nice of you to show up". Her father and brother were much more welcoming.

Saying hello to her aunt and uncle she had a seat before getting a look at the other two faces in the room. One she vaguely knew as Marie. Rocky knew her better as she had grown up down the street from him and was friends with his younger sister Christina. He didn't realize she knew Kat until she showed up as the maid of honor in her wedding. The other was someone Carri didn't want to see, and probably would have just stayed in bed had she known she was there.

"Hello." Kendall Jackson said flashing Carri the biggest fake smile she could come up with.

Carri didn't know what Kendall thought she was doing but she declined to even try as she muttered a hello back. Kendall was the daughter of her father's cousin and a year younger than she and Kat, and until recently lived in Australia. Now she was living in Los Angeles with her boyfriend. Carri hated having her that close and despised the idea of spending time sitting there with her.

Ever since they were young girls they had not gotten along. Kendall thought of Carri as a snobby stuck up bitch. Carri had never given her a reason to think that way. Although she supposed Kendall's hatred of her stemmed from the fact that she was quite vocal of all the real reasons she didn't like Kendall. Kendall was quite lazy and was always trying to get others to do things for her from turn on the television to go pick stuff up at the store. She was the most self absorbed person Carri had ever met and she loved to play games with people. Everything that happened to her she'd use to set people up. She'd present people with scenarios that any option one choose, you couldn't win.

The worst offense in Carri's eyes was the way she treated Kat. They were both close growing up together in Australia. Kat would do anything for her. The summer before Kat moved to the states Kendall broke up with her long term boyfriend and for two weeks Kat waited on her hand and foot while she pulled herself together. Kendall was not one to return the favor. She was Kat's self proclaimed "bestest friend" but when Kat needed her she was never around. And Carri didn't know how many times when she visited that she asked Kat to hang out while Kat already had plans with Kendall, only to get to the day in question and have Kat call and ask if she still wanted to do something because Kendall "forgot" they had plans and already went to hang out with someone else.

Kendall eyed Carri as the other girl ignored her, thinking of how she could make her day miserable. It would be easy to talk about how she didn't love Kat as much as Kendall did since she missed the wedding and almost missed the birth. But as Carri folded her arms Kendall thought she spotted an opportunity. Sitting on the ring finger of her left hand was a diamond. She hadn't heard anything and she assumed that meant she hadn't told her parents. But now was a good time to find out. "You're getting married?" Kendall questioned eagerly awaiting the response.

Carri's head snapped viciously in her direction. She caught a glimpse of her ring and tried to suppress a groan. She had yet to tell her parents and certainly wasn't planning on doing it today. "I am." She said simply as she took a deep breath.

Kendall saw her parents reaction and smiled before making eye contact with Carri's fiancé and batting her eyes a bit. He was quite the catch. Given the opportunity she wouldn't hesitate to steal him away from her. "He sure is cute. And brave if he's going to marry you." She added, half joking half serious. "I'm going to get married someday. I have it all planned out. And my perfect groom would look just like yours."

"You just have to find someone willing to marry you first." Carri snapped with a smile on her face. That would shut Kendall up for a minute. Carri tried to control her temper but she didn't know what made her angrier. She wasn't too mad that Kendall was trying to pick Rocky up. She wasn't his type. She was kind of pretty but the way she got boyfriends was by whoring herself out and Rocky would never go for that. Besides she treated everyone she ever dated like shit. She was more pissed at Kendall for ousting her engagement. She was kind of pissed at herself because she should have thought to take the ring off before seeing her parents.

"You're getting married?" Rebecca Hillard questioned not hiding the distaste in her voice.

Carri let out a long sigh. "Yeah. It just happened. I was going to tell you."

"Congratulations." Her father said while her brother echoed his sentiments. "Not only am I happy for you, but this will make the remnants of that nasty article go away."

"Yeah I guess it will." Carri replied. The thought hadn't crossed her mind but her father was right.

Her mother just glared at her. "Now that you are a producer I always thought you'd marry one of those Hollywood types."

Carri let out a frustrated grunt. Her mother had been quite clear since she returned home that now that she was rising to be rich and famous Rocky wasn't good enough for her. "Well mother I'm sorry to disappoint you but you can't choose the profession of the man you fall in love with."

Her mother pursed her lips and gave Carri quite the viscous look of her own. Her eyes locked her daughters. Rebecca Hillard was just as open with her thoughts as her daughter and if she wanted to play, they'd play. "Have you chosen a date yet? You should get married in the summer. I'm sure it will have to be an outdoor wedding since you can't be bothered to go to church anymore."

Carri's jaw hardened as she was already past tired of her mother's digs. Before she could think about it she spit out the first thing that came to mind. "Me go to church? When was the last time you weren't too hung-over to get up and go to church?"

The waiting room suddenly snapped silent as all eyes turned to Carri. She had opened her mouth too far and she knew it but she'd be damned if she'd back down. Her mother glared at her as she responded. "Oh I don't know. Perhaps fifteen years ago. Before my children turned into little rebellious hellions and drove me crazy."

Carri clinched her fists. She probably deserved that one. She couldn't continue to attack her mother. Not that she didn't want to, but it was inappropriate. Before she could say anything she took a deep breath and stood, then headed around the corner and down the hallway. No one could miss the agitated yell she gave or the sounds of her kicking something.

Rocky moved to get up but Josh held a hand out. "Let me go talk to her." He said as he stood. If anyone could calm his sister down after a fight with their mother it was him. Although he knew Rocky would like to try, he had no idea what it was like between the two of them, especially in the years they lived in New York.

"Ok." Rocky replied as he watched Josh get up and follow his sister. He gave a half smile as he looked around at the people left in the waiting room. It was quite uncomfortable and he didn't know how to change the mood. Finally he decided it was best to switch to the topic of why they were actually gathered here. "So how's Kat doing?"

"Still in labor." Her mother replied.

"I can't wait to see Kat's baby. If it's a girl I'll bet she'll name it after me." Kendall said smiling sweetly.

Rocky nodded. "That would be nice." He said giving her somewhat of a smile. He didn't know who this girl was or what she was doing here. There was obviously bad blood between her and Carri which is probably why he'd never heard of her before.

He sighed and leaned back into his chair just as Marie made her way over to the seat vacated by Carri. "How are you doing? I don't think I've seen you since Kat's wedding." She said. He'd always been the cuter older brother of one of her close friends. She knew her mom and his mom had conspired to get them together but now it was pretty much hopeless. Her only chance would be if they didn't work out.

"I'm doing good. Working a lot." He replied giving her a smile.

"Do you still own the three schools?" Marie made small talk, knowing full well what the answer was.

Rocky nodded. "How about yourself? How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm still working with Kat." Marie started then paused. "It's been crazy lately. I'm still working two jobs and I broke off with my boyfriend and now Kat's having the baby…" she let her voice trail off.

Rocky nodded again, not knowing what else to say. It was still quite uncomfortable in that room. Especially with the looks Carri's mother kept giving him. As silence fell over the group his communicator went off and he'd never been so happy to hear it in his life. "Excuse me for a second." He said as he jumped off and went to find Carri.

Rounding the corner he saw her and Josh standing there. She appeared calmer than she'd been five minutes ago. Josh looked from Rocky to Carri. "She's going to kill you if you miss the birth." Josh pointed out. He'd seen the fit Kat threw when Carri missed the wedding.

"Well," Carri started with a shrug as their communicators went off again, "duty calls." She finished as she grabbed Rocky's hand and led him off to find a safe place to answer their page.

* * *

The pink, white and black rangers stood on the battlefield staring down Rhianna and her Cirranadrones. "They can't leave us alone can they?" Jason grumbled. He had to take off at the end of his lunch with Emily. More than likely she'd be gone by the time he was able to return. As if waking them up in the middle of the night wasn't bad enough.

"This won't take long. I promise." Rhianna replied giving them a sticky sweet smile. Either she understood her new powers and she could take them out quickly or she'd find out she needed to return for more training. Either way she didn't anticipate it being a long intense battle.

As she glanced over the rangers she thought about how ready she was to destroy them. To finally get revenge for what they did to her parents. Her parents weren't the only ones she was thinking about avenging. She was still quite upset over Goldar even though Callisto had assured her that he stabbed them in the back. She didn't know what to believe. For the moment she was going to continue on with Callisto's plan. It would get her the revenge she wanted and she wasn't sure it was a smart idea to double cross a goddess. She saw where it got Goldar. She steeled herself as the final two rangers arrived and she prepared to attack.

Before Rhianna could do anything the yellow ranger opened her mouth. "Can we get this over with. I need to get back to the hospital." She said figuring this wasn't going to be much harder than the previous night's battle.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked, alarm in her voice.

"Kat's having the baby. She's going to kill me if I'm not there." Carri replied.

"Aw she's having the baby?" Kim questioned. Despite her differences with Kat she was happy for her and hoped everything went well.

"Yeah she went into labor last night and"

"Enough." Tommy said cutting her off. The girls could sometimes drive him nuts. "We have a battle to take care of."

"I'd listen to the white ranger if I was you. Besides Kat is not the one you have to worry about killing you." Rhianna threatened. One of the rangers snorted. She couldn't put a finger on which one but it only made her angry. She put a hand to her chest and caused the piece of crystal it held to glow. The rangers attention snapped immediately toward her. "You rangers failed. You only recovered three pieces of the Shadow Crystal. I have the fourth. And it will be more than enough to kill you."

Tommy looked around at the others as they all suddenly jumped into warrior mode. They were wrong. All along they assumed it was Callisto who wanted the powers of the Shadow Crystal but she had wanted the powers for Rhianna. He didn't know if there was anything one crystal could do or why Callisto gave it to her, and most importantly what this all meant. But he had a bad feeling they were all about to find out.

The rangers hesitated, waiting for Rhianna to make the first move so they could see what they were up against. They watched as the crystal continued to glow, getting brighter with each passing second. Suddenly Rhianna removed her hands from her chest and spoke a few words in an ancient language none of them understood before a power exploded from the crystal, sending waves of energy toward them and throwing them back. The rangers flew hard in several directions, pain coursing through them as they were slammed to the ground.

Pulling themselves to their feet, the rangers tried to ignore their pain as they glanced around at each other. Tommy was the first to try and attack Rhianna, running at her weapon in hand. As he grew closer she spoke again, and this time the power surged from her hand. Electricity flowed freely through her fingertips as she hit Tommy square in the chest. Lifting her arm she suspended the team's leader high in the air.

Tommy tried not to panic as he couldn't breathe. Whatever she was doing he felt as though she was crushing every bone in his body. He couldn't move as she had paralyzed him. As blackness started to come over him her grip was released and he fell to the ground. He took a few deep breaths and tried to orient himself, and his eyes focused again in time to see both female rangers get tossed around like rag dolls.

"Guys we need to fall back." Tommy said as he forced himself to stand. Rocky and Jason were just about to attack when he spoke, and they stopped and fell back with Tommy. The girls worked their way over toward them and the team stood in formation, no one sure of what to do next.

"That's right rangers run." Rhianna said as she laughed. "You can't stop me. I have more power than you will ever be able to handle."

"Any suggestions?" Carri asked looking around at her teammates.

They all watched as the crystal started to glow again, its energies flowing around her. She started to chant again and although everyone was worried about what she was going to do next they all stood strong. Kim glanced at the crystal. She didn't know if it would do any good or not but she brought out her bow and fired three arrows directly into its center.

As the arrows hit the crystal absorbed them. It didn't take any damage but Rhianna was thrown by the hit. She started to shake as she lost control, beams of energy shooting from her body in every direction. The rangers were quick to duck for cover.

Everyone waited until the light show was finished. When they reemerged, Rhianna was gone and in her place stood Cratus. Callisto's right hand monster glared at them. "What you have seen is a sampling of her new powers. Soon she will be unstoppable. But for now…" Cratus's voice trailed off as a wolf monster teleported down beside him. He took off once the monster arrived, leaving to join Rhianna and work out the kinks in her powers.

"Easy enough." Carri said as they all ran to attack the wolf monster and the Cirranadrones Rhianna had left behind.

The battle was typical, as the Cirranadrones were quickly sent away and as the wolf monster was sloppily thrown together at the last minute he was fairly easy to defeat. The monster hit the ground and the rangers waited until they were fairly satisfied he wasn't coming back before they teleported themselves to the Command Chamber.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Jason grumbled as they all powered down. In that one battle everything had changed and suddenly he felt more uncertain than he'd ever felt as a ranger.

"Callisto has apparently decided not to use the crystal for herself although I am uncertain at her reasoning." Billy pointed out the obvious, although it was the only thing he could think to say.

Rocky shook his head. Everything they thought they knew had changed and none of it made any sense. "What about the crystal? I thought one piece was harmless."

"In theory." Kim replied as she thought about it. "Maybe that's why she kind of imploded when I hit her. Because she only had one piece."

"Yeah but that sucker packed a punch." Carri replied with a sigh. She felt more bruised and beaten than she had in a long time. At least they'd never get their hands on the other three pieces. She had never been more thankful of anything in her life than she was of the Kaoans stumbling onto Harpta.

"We need to figure out everything we can on this crystal. Including how to counteract its powers." Tommy pointed out. They were fortunate that afternoon on the battlefield. But there was no guarantee that the next time they'd be able to throw Rhianna off that easily.

"I'll see what I can find." Billy said as he nodded in agreement. There hadn't been much in the Command Chambers files on the crystal besides what Karone had already told them. He'd have to reach out to their contacts on other worlds. Perhaps Karone could point him toward some darker places he could look.

"Hopefully she won't attack again until we know more." Tommy said. He didn't need to finish that line of thought. That if she pulled herself together before then they very well might be in serious trouble. "In the meantime we'll continue on as usual." Although usual would be hard with all of them concerned about their future.

"I guess we need to get back to the hospital." Carri said glancing over at Rocky who nodded. She gave the others a quick wave goodbye before the two of them took off.

"I need to get back to," Jason paused, catching himself before he said Emily, "work." The last thing he needed was Kim finding out who he was sneaking around to see. She and Carri would never let him hear the end of it. He teleported out, hoping Emily had been able to stay around and wait for him.

Tommy shook his head. "Odd." He said simply.

Kim shrugged, assuming by work he meant he had something to do with his book or his publisher. She stepped up to the white ranger and gave him a passionate kiss, one that poured with emotion as she was thrilled to be able to have contact with him after all those years gone. "I have to get back to work too."

"Uh, yeah." Tommy stammered. She hardly ever kissed him like that. If this is how she was going to act after he departed for a few days, he planned on going away more often. It exhilarated him and he couldn't wait to return to Angel Grove the next night and see what she had in store. "Me too." He added.

The duo said goodbye to Billy before both teleporting off in their own separate directions. Billy spent a few moments sending transmissions out asking for help with information on the Shadow Crystal before returning to work as well.

* * *

Callisto sighed as she sat on the throne. That didn't go quite as planned. Of course she knew that there was a good chance Rhianna wouldn't be ready yet. This was just a trial after all.

There was a positive to all of this. Rhianna was coming along quite nicely with her powers. She had learned a lot in the little bit of time that had passed since she acquired the crystal shard. However there were signs of what Callisto had been afraid of. That one shard would be difficult to master. When the pink ranger hit the shard it didn't hurt it, but it became unstable causing Rhianna to lose control.

If Rhianna had a mastery of the shard, she would have been able to work with its powers to keep it stable and continue her attack on the rangers. And what an attack it was. Those brats were hurting worse that Callisto had seen in a while. She was disappointed that Rhianna couldn't finish the job. Now it was back to the drawing board. Cratus had taken Rhianna off and they were going to start practically from scratch.

Who knew how long it would take before Cratus deemed her ready again. He swore he wouldn't let her try again until he was confident in her powers. Callisto agreed, she didn't want to give the rangers much more of a glimpse than they already had. She already decided she wasn't going to take any more chances.

There was a possibility that the rangers and seen enough to figure out how to counteract the crystal's powers. Which is why she planned on sending Rhianna elsewhere to test her mastery of the shard. Once she was confident in Rhianna's abilities she would send her directly after the gem.

In the meantime she'd figure out a way to keep those rangers occupied. She didn't think it would be too hard, she knew how to get creative. Then when the time came the rangers would have no idea what was about to hit them. She would finally get her revenge that was centuries in the making.

* * *

Carri cautiously walked into the hospital waiting room, Rocky in tow. Her disappearance was not going to sit well with her mother, who was already over the edge from her earlier antics. She planned on keeping her mouth shut and waiting until she had been there long enough to appease her family before taking off to get some work done.

It didn't take long for Carri to change her mind as Kendall gave her a sticky sweet smile when she walked in. "Kat had the baby. A girl. Denise Elizabeth Black." Kendall had gone in to see the new mother and baby and hadn't hesitated to tell her all about how her cousin and her fiancé were only there for five minutes before taking off again.

Carri suppressed a groan as she rolled her eyes heavenward. This was not going to be good. "I'm going to go see Kat." She said giving Rocky a kiss on the cheek.

Nodding Rocky took a seat and watched as she stood up straight and marched off. Carri was ready for war, or the potential for war anyway. She headed into Kat's room, where she found her holding the baby with her husband hovering over her.

Chris gave Carri a nasty look when she walked in. "It's about time you showed up."

"It's good to see you too." Carri said glaring at him. "Could you give me a minute with my cousin. Alone." It was more of a demand than a request.

Chris glanced down at Kat who nodded and he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Carri approached Kat's bed and glanced down at the baby. "She's beautiful. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Kat said, taking a deep breath before looking up at her cousin. "So where were you?" she asked. Her mother had informed her that Carri hadn't shown up until late that morning and took off shortly thereafter. She thought for sure after she missed the wedding she'd be there for her now.

"Saving the free world." Carri offered as her explanation. Kat huffed and she elaborated. "There was an attack last night and a rather serious one this morning. I'm sorry Callisto and Rhianna don't operate on your timetable. But I have to deal with them. I can't leave the team a man down."

"I know." Kat said, anger showing through. She couldn't help it. She knew when the world was in danger and her team was being called Carri had to go. But at the same time the rangers kept her once best friend from being there for her in every major moment of her life.

"At least I'm here now." Carri pointed out. She had made her statement and she was not going to defend her continuous involvement with the rangers to Kat yet again.

"Yeah." Kat agreed. Of course here not being there wasn't even the thing that made her most angry. It was something Kendall alluded to that had made her more upset with her cousin that morning. "I hear you're getting married."

Carri cringed. Kat probably wanted to kill her for not saying anything. She was surprised Kat hadn't heard from the other rangers and confronted her before now. "Yeah."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Kat said. She didn't give her cousin a chance to formulate a response before she continued. "I'm sure Kim knows already."

"I told the team." She said, with emphasis on team. She was not responsible for whoever else may have found out.

Thinking about the situation for a moment Carri quickly made up her mind. She was not going to let Kat turn this into a new reason to dislike Kim. It was time for her to leave before the conversation continued. "There's a lot to talk about but we can discuss it later. I'm going to let you get some rest. Congrats again."

With that Carri turned and marched out of the room, practically slapping Chris with the door on the way out. She shook her head at everything. Now it was time to say goodbye to her family and get back to work.

* * *

Kim sat in a booth in Bulkmeier's waiting for Carri to arrive. She had talked to her a few hours ago and both girls decided to have dinner as Tommy was still out of town and Rocky would be working late to make up for missed time. Then Kim was planning on going home and getting some rest.

She had thought about taking off for another year that night, but after the lip lock she had with Tommy she knew she couldn't wait that long to see him again. She couldn't wait for him to get home so she could show him how much she missed him. Of course he would find her to be over affectionate for only being gone a few days, but she didn't care and she doubted he would either.

Kim was pulled out of her thoughts as Carri slid in across from her. "Hey."

"Hey." Kim replied. She watched as the waiter came over and took their drink orders before starting up a conversation. "So how's Kat?"

"Pissed that I had other things to do today and pissed that you knew about my engagement but not her." Carri said as she rolled her eyes. "Other than that Kat's doing fine. Denise Elizabeth Black is her little girl. She's adorable."

Kim nodded. "Well you knew that was going to happen." She said, figuring Kat would just channel a lot of her anger into her anyway. "I'm glad she and the baby are good. Did they end up working everything out with their insurance?"

"Get this." Carri said as she gave Kim a look. "I was talking to Josh on the way out and he said mom and dad gave her money to help out. Because, you know, she's the perfect Hillard and Josh and I are just hopeless so they might as well help her out."

"I'm sure you're parents don't find you hopeless." Kim assured her. "Plus you're parents don't need to help either of you out financially so why should you care if they help out Kat."

"I don't care that they're helping her out with the baby." The only thing they were helping out with was Kat's medical expenses, so as long as they weren't giving Chris anything it was ok with her. "And mom at least has given up on either me or Josh being a spouse with kids and the white picket fence and all that. And despite what she thinks about the rest of the Hillard family, she likes Kat." Her mother only got along well with high society these days and although the rest of the Hillard's didn't fall into that category, Kat was still the one she sometimes wished was her daughter as she did everything the right way. Carri was saucy and defied her at every turn and that drove her mother crazy.

"Whatever." Kim replied rolling her eyes as their waiter returned with their drinks. He set them down and they placed their food orders. As he left they were silent.

"Tommy still coming home tomorrow?" Carri asked, ready to steer away from Kat and her family.

"Yeah. I can't wait to be with him again." Kim said dreamily, the very thought of his touch sending chills up her spine.

"Please." Carri said rolling her eyes. "He's only been gone since Sunday. You're acting like you haven't had sex in years."

"Oh." Kim said snapping back into reality. She sighed, she supposed now was as good a time as any to tell Carri. "It has been years. Eleven years."

Carri practically spit out her drink. "Care to explain?"

"I'm getting really good at teleporting now." Kim said, making eye contact with Carri who urged her to go on. "And by really good I mean I can pretty much go where I want to."

"And the eleven years?" Carri encouraged her to continue.

"You know I've got to work on my powers, to protect myself and those close to me when the rest of the universe comes to test me." Kim started as Carri nodded. "So now that I've been able to teleport I've spent the last few nights taking off to other planets to work on my powers. I can be gone for years and come back to just moments after I left."

That wasn't surprising. K had the same type of powers, it only made sense that Kim would develop them. "So when are you going to fill Tommy in?" Carri asked.

"Soon." Kim said as Carri shot her a look. "I told you when there was something to tell I'd tell. Well now there's something to tell. I just have to figure out the right time."

"So jump his bones first, fill him in later?"

Kim shrugged. "Something like that." Although it was going to be more like spend time with him when he came home then wait a few days until she thought he was ready to hear it. She wanted to wait until he had calmed down a bit about their current ranger crisis. Or at least until they had better news. She didn't want him to stress out about both things at once. Kim's thought's trailed off in Rhianna's direction as she thought about their ranger crisis. "So what do you think about what happened this afternoon?"

Carri shook her head. "I don't know. It was not good. We're lucky your arrows took her down this time."

"I think it's going to take a lot more than luck next time." Kim commented. It was trial and error for Rhianna. Something backfired and now she was going to return to try again. Cratus called it a sample. That she would be unstoppable. Kim dreaded seeing the finished product.

"We're going to have to figure something out otherwise…" Carri couldn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to. Kim had the same images of death and destruction going through her head as her friend did. "Anyway. Something's funky here I just can't put my finger on it yet."

"You're right." Kim replied. Her thoughts started to dive deep into the Rhianna situation. She didn't know yet how they were going to combat her, or what exactly she was planning on doing. They would have to stay alert for now to see what happens.

Worrying about how they were going to fight Rhianna was enough to make her rethink taking a night off. She was learning things. At the moment she didn't know how she could be of assistance in the fight against Rhianna. But what if she could? It was hard to ignore her growing urges for Tommy's company, but the red ranger in her was coming through loud and clear. If there was something she could do to help she had to do it.

Her mind was made up. She was going to take off for another year that night. Who knew when Rhianna would attack again but if there was anything Kim could do to stop her she had to try. Her Muirantian powers could come in handy. Despite everything she'd been through, if she could save her friends Kemora's forced gift could turn out to be not so bad after all.


	20. Secrets

**Disclaimer:**All things Power Rangers belong to Disney. Any references to Kim's powers or K's world are references to things created by KSuzie. Everything else belongs to me.

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Secrets"

It was the morning of the Angel Grove High Class of '97 reunion and two of the female students attending found themselves wondering through the park. Although there was much to be done that afternoon, the two women sat on the park bench waiting for a third person to join them so they could have a secret meeting.

"I hope he's on time." Kim said as she glanced across the park.

Carri nodded. "He should be."

The he they were referring to was Jason, who was meeting them there that morning to discuss some aspects of the movie Ausus Productions was making based off of his book. Carri had gotten some stuff done the previous week that she wanted to pass along to both Kim and Jason. They couldn't hold a meeting in her office as it would be suspicious. Jason had people in his home doing some renovations and Rocky was sitting at home at Carri's, leaving them no choice but to meet outside.

They didn't want to alert anyone of who Jason was and the girls were doing a good job of keeping his secret safe. Tommy was suspicious of what Jason actually did for a living, but being Luke Kirk was nowhere near any of his theories. Rocky was curious as to what an online investor was and how exactly one made the kind of wealth Jason had from following that profession. Carri and Kim both gave the same answer, they didn't know the specifics but he was really good at his job.

To keep suspicion down, neither girl told their significant other that they were meeting with Jason that morning. Not that they didn't spend time together just the three of them, but they usually didn't slip away to the park to do it and if Tommy and Rocky were home they'd usually be invited to come along. Instead they both said they were going to get pampered before the reunion. Which wasn't a total lie. After their meeting with Jason they had manicures, pedicures and hair appointments set up, as well as a quick meeting with Ashley for something new to wear.

Until then they were both stuck sitting on a park bench gossiping while they waited for Jason. Kim was the first to pick a topic and she chose something that Carri wasn't exactly thrilled with. "How are you and Rocky doing?"

Carri turned toward her friend. "Fine." She replied. She couldn't imagine why Kim would think otherwise.

"Has he gotten you to talk more about the wedding?" Kim questioned. She was curious. They had been engaged almost a month with Carri home for three of those weeks, and as far as she knew the only thing Carri had settled on was who was going to make her wedding dress and two members of the wedding party, both decisions made within five minutes of each other.

Carri shrugged. They talked a little bit. He had been bugging her about when and where they wanted to get married. She decided they might as well pick something. "We've got a date and a location."

"Really?" Kim questioned rather surprised.

"Yeah. We just decided on Thursday." Carri replied. "We're going to do it around the end of July, beginning of August. On the beach. We'll have to get someone to scout the places to get married out there and find out what's available." Carri was happy that she was able to get married on the beach. It was her favorite place in the world and if she didn't have responsibilities she enjoyed she'd be content spending her entire life lying out in the sand.

"The beach?" Kim asked not hiding her surprise. "Rocky actually agreed not to get married in a Catholic church?"

"Yeah. Well kinda. He wanted to get married in the fall in the church." Carri told her.

Kim shook her head. She felt bad for Rocky. Who knows what kind of methods Carri used to force him to agree with her. She had to ask. "How did you get him to change his mind?"

"Easy. Mostly anyway." Carri said turning toward Kim and grinning. "I used you."

"Me?" Kim practically squeaked. The last thing she wanted was Rocky upset with her for something she had nothing to do with.

Carri laughed. "Don't get so worked up its actually legitimate." She promised, pausing for a moment. "I explained to him that no matter who is in control of the pit, your Muirantian powers were forged by the forces of evil and because of that it marked you with the evil signatures of its creator. Meaning you can't enter holy ground, including churches, without being attacked. Since I'm not doing the wedding without you and you can't go to the church than the church wedding is out."

"You left out a lot. Like the part where I need permission to enter holy ground and assuming I get that permission I'm fine." Kim was quick to point out. It was potentially an easy fix. It was more annoying than anything. She couldn't help the way she was made. But if she approached holy ground, the doors would slam in her face and she had to prove she was there for good and not evil.

"So I omitted a small detail." Carri said with a shrug. "Besides you don't want to fool with asking a higher power for permission to go to my wedding. And what if you don't get it? We're back to square one. It's easier not to try."

"I may have been marked with evil signatures but you're the one who's truly evil." Kim said as Carri snorted. "You used me to get your way. And you lied."

"Please I didn't lie. I just didn't tell the whole truth." Carri defended herself. She thought for a moment. If Kim was going to play, she'd play with her. "As long as were discussing evil and lying, have you told Tommy yet about the full extent of your powers?"

"I, well…" Kim's voice trailed off as Carri gave her a self satisfied smile. "Fine. I'll tell him before the reunion."

"Seriously?" Carri questioned. That certainly wasn't the response she was expecting. She was ready for Kim to give her more excuses.

"Why not. Tommy has every right to know. And things have been relatively quiet since Rhianna's last attack so he's not as stressed. It's the perfect time to tell him." Kim said. She had been thinking about it a lot lately. She wanted more than anything to tell him, but she was waiting for the right opportunity. But they were both heavily involved rangers and he may be fifty before she decides things are quiet enough for him to worry about her. He deserved to know.

"Wow." Carri said, her point from earlier being totally wiped out. "Tell me later how it goes."

"I will." Kim promised. "And"

Before Kim could spit out the rest of her sentence loud music spat out from a cd player, destroying the serenity of the park. Both girls turned their heads to see a group of teenagers out in the clearing, playing their music as loud as it could go and lounging around.

"Are you serious?" Carri exclaimed loud enough for Kim to be able to hear her over the music. "I can't even hear myself think anymore."

"So much for a quiet morning in the park." Kim grumbled. She sighed. She couldn't remember being that loud as a teenager. "Maybe they're just TGIFing."

"Well they can TGIF elsewhere." Carri replied. "Besides it's Saturday."

Kim snorted. "It doesn't look like that's stopping them. Maybe we can ask them to turn it down?"

"Please do you really think they're going to listen to a couple of adults?" Carri questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest and started tapping her foot. One look at her would let anyone who knew her know she was about to explode. "You know it would only take one flick of the wrist for those speakers to be in a million little pieces."

"Jason should be here any minute. If we can stop from killing them or destroying their stuff until he gets here we'll move." Kim pointed out. She was quite thankful at the moment for her Muirantian powers. They were the only thing stopping her from developing a massive migraine.

Carri's head wasn't faring as well. If Jason didn't get there soon she'd need to suck down half a bottle of aspirin. "If he's not I'm gonna kill him."

Kim shook her head and she couldn't help but chuckle. She supposed it was better her taking aggression out on Jason than a bunch of teenagers. She sighed as she leaned back and closed her eyes, trying her hardest to drown out the noise.

* * *

Callisto found herself spending another Earth day doing absolutely nothing. And where most humans would appreciate the ability to lie around, it drove her more insane than she already was. She was a creature of action. And if she wasn't the cause of the action she was planning on how to be the cause of the action. At the moment she was neither.

She couldn't be either until Rhianna was ready and she had no idea how long that would take. As of the last report received from Cratus, Rhianna had taken such a leap back in the fight they realized she had a lot of work to do. They had been working diligently since but they still had a long way to go.

It was upsetting that she couldn't send Rhianna back into the field. But she knew it was for the best. She couldn't afford her messing up again against the rangers. Already they had seen too much. She had an idea where she would send her once she was ready to test her powers again. If they worked well enough the test of powers could prove to be quite useful. Especially if she destroyed the targets.

Until then Callisto was stuck doing nothing. Occasionally she would send Cirranadrones down to harass the rangers. She'd even gone down herself once for something to do but that damned yellow ranger had infuriated her and she had refused to go back since. But there was never any point to any of the fighting she had been doing since Rhianna's last battle. It was boring watching the rangers defeat her forces so easily, so much so that she'd rather do nothing.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Rhianna's staff, nestled against the wall. She had been instructed to leave it there so it wouldn't interfere with her work. More than anything Callisto wanted to use it to make a mean, viscous monster. Much to her dismay, she didn't know how. The staff was meant for Rhianna's use.

She did know a few things about it. After all she did purify Goldar with it. And she knew how to essentially point and shoot. Of course she couldn't make anything of substance with it. But perhaps that wouldn't matter. It would be more amusing to watch them fight a monster than to sit here a do nothing. And although there wasn't really a point, she could send the Cirranadrones down too just for the heck of it.

Now the only question was what inane object she was going to plan to turn into her monster. There were so many choices, so many different ways she could go. None of them would win, but all of them had the capability of taking the rangers to a new level of annoyance and amusing her. She glanced down at the surface to observe what each of the rangers were doing. Two of the male rangers were sitting at home. There was nothing for her to do there. The third male ranger was driving. She supposed she could make a car monster but she thought she'd peek in on the females first.

Perfect. The two females were both already overly annoyed by a stupid little object. Perhaps she could use that annoyance to her advantage. What better way to make someone mad than to give the object they're loathing a personality of its own. It was settled. She would use it. If for nothing else than the fact that her day wasn't going to be as boring.

* * *

The girls were still leaning on the park bench waiting for Jason to show up. Kim was using all the powers at her disposal to drown out both the noise of the cd player and the constant complaints of her best friend. She had yet to decide which one was worse.

"And another thing." Carri said as her arms were crossed tightly over her chest. "If these kids"

Kim opened her eyes as Carri stopped suddenly and grabbed her knee. She looked over at the direction her friend was gesturing. "Are you freaking serious?" Carri asked as the cd player turned itself into a monster. "If I didn't know better I'd say Rita and Zedd were lurking around."

"I am Boomatron." He announced proudly. "And I am here to share my music with you." With that sound came out of his speakers, causing everyone in the park to cover their ears in pain and scramble away.

"Come on, we've got to get away from the monster." Kim yelled as the city wide monster alarms went off. Carri nodded as they pretended to panic and run off with the rest of the people in the park. When they were far enough away from the monster and out of sight of the people, they slid into the park restrooms that had long since been cleared.

"Shall we?" Carri asked glaring at her friend. She had yet to decide what was worse, the noise Boomatron was making now or the noise it made before.

"We shall." Kim replied as she reached behind her back. "It's morphin time!"

Within seconds the yellow and pink rangers were right back where they started, joining up with the rest of their teammates. "Did we interrupt your pedicure?" Tommy asked, curious as to why the girls took so much longer to get there than the rest of them.

"Yeah, well, we were debating on coming at all, with the foot massage feeling so good and everything, but we figured why not." Carri replied being as much of a smart ass as she possibly could. Better have Tommy pissed off at her attitude than suspect they weren't actually getting pedicures.

"Let's just beat this creep and go back home." Jason quickly suggested, more than a little eager to change the subject. Although he doubted Tommy thought they were anywhere besides where they were supposed to be, he didn't want his friend doing anymore probing. Tommy was a smart man, and if anyone could get to the bottom of something it was him.

Tommy nodded his head. "Agreed."

"Wait! Before you start, you should hear my show." Boomatron suggested before sending a new sound signal out of his speakers. The first sound didn't affect morphed rangers, but this one froze them up and blew them back.

The rangers stood and regrouped in time to see the Cirranadrones teleport in. "And these are my backup dancers." Boomatron pointed out the group of warriors that had just joined him.

"Too bad this concert has to end." Rocky yelled as they all called for their weapons.

"Not so fast. You have to get your money's worth." Boomatron said as he let out powerful sound waves. The rangers could do nothing as they collapsed to the ground, frozen in place. As the Cirranadrones started to descend on them they were teleported away.

"Is everyone alright?" Billy asked as his friends arrived on the floor before him. They had been helpless on the battlefield and he had been left with no choice but to remove them from action.

Slowly the team stood up, briefly examining themselves before turning and glancing at everyone else. "I think we're fine." Tommy was the first to speak as the team started removing their helmets. "That cd player is getting on my nerves. Anything we can do about it?"

"Tell me about it." Carri grumbled. Kim shot her a look and Carri shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't like the boys had any idea that it had been getting on their nerves well before it was turned into a monster.

"Earplugs." Billy said simply as the others looked at him. "If you can't hear the sound waves he's producing, you can't be affected by them."

"I don't suppose you have a stash of earplugs." Jason said as he looked over at Billy.

Billy smiled as he went to the console and pushed a few buttons. A few seconds later a small container of earplugs appeared before them. "Always be prepared."

"Fantastic." Kim replied as she was the first to take a set and push them into her ears. The world around her suddenly went silent and she smiled. "These will do fine." She spoke a little more loudly than she intended. Rocky was the only ranger who heard her, as he was the last one to grab earplugs.

Tommy looked around at the others and stuck his thumb in the air, a gesture that each member of the team repeated. With a swift motion of his arms he called out "Back to action!" and the team was on their way down to the fight.

Boomatron stood waiting for them as they returned. "And I was afraid you were going to miss the grand finale." He said, unaware that the rangers couldn't hear a word of what he was spewing. He mistook their silence for fear and he continued on. "How about this song. It's a killer."

The rangers were aware that he was sending noise in their direction again however as they couldn't hear it, it didn't affect them. They stood strong as they watched Boomatron get agitated. "My turn." Carri said, calling for her weapons and going to do a number on the speakers.

Kim shook her head as they watched the yellow ranger fall out of formation first and move to attack. Carri was probably going to enjoy busting that monster into a million little pieces. She couldn't help the satisfaction that particular thought brought her, and as she called on her arrows and fired at the monster she hoped that once it was destroyed the cd player would be destroyed, or at the very least not work anymore.

The three male rangers followed in line behind their female counterparts. They called on their weapons and went to attack, only instead of hitting the monster they hit the Cirranadrones. With the earplugs in they were relying heavily on visual cues to keep the battle going smoothly and keep from running into each other.

It was easy at first, with the girls attacking the monster and the boys working on the Cirranadrones. Fifteen minutes into the battle, the Cirranadrones were gone and all attention was turned toward the monster. Tommy wanted to end the battle quickly and call for the cannon, but he wasn't sure how to convey that to the rest of the team.

Before he had a chance to react, Jason and Rocky were all over the monster. With a sigh he went in to try and collect and regroup his team. The first ranger he got to was the yellow, and he grabbed her and pulled her aside, holding up his hand and gesturing for her to stop and stay. Carri crossed her arms over her chest, daggers still in hand as she was more than ready to strike again.

Tommy sighed. If she was going to stay she was going to have to get his point. He took his hands and put them on his shoulder as if he was holding the cannon. She cocked her head and looked at him strangely. "Cannon!" He yelled as if she could hear him. She shrugged her shoulders and thinking quickly he took his finger and traced the word in the air.

Nodding in understanding, Carri put one finger up before running back toward the monster. Not wanting to waste any more time, Tommy went to collect Kim, who wasn't happy at being dragged away from the fight. He tried to tell her to stay but she looked as though she wanted to argue. He was ready to use the same method he did with Carri when the yellow ranger returned, Rocky on one arm and Jason's Power Axe in her opposite hand. Jason came storming after her and Tommy held his hand up to stop him.

Turning to face the monster, Tommy called for the Power Cannon. It arrived on the ground at their feet and finally the team got what was going on. Quickly rushing into position, the team grabbed the cannon and called for it to fire. A few seconds later the Boomatron was blasted into scrap metal. They stood in formation until they were satisfied he wasn't coming back before teleporting off.

* * *

Callisto slumped back into her chair. It was too bad she didn't know how to make monsters grow, Boomatron had been rather fun. Although he was quite easy to defeat once the rangers figured out the part about the earplugs. It didn't matter though; the monster had served its purpose. She had been amused and hadn't been forced to spend yet another day doing nothing. She'd have to figure out how to continue to keep herself occupied until Rhianna was ready.

* * *

Carri and Kim headed from the park restroom back to the bench they had originally occupied to find Jason waiting for them. As they went to join him both were enjoying the relative silence. The only noise that was interrupting them was the complaints of the kids that their cd player was nowhere to be found. They couldn't believe it had been turned into a monster and were even more surprised when it hadn't been returned to them.

"Did you…" Kim asked, voice trailing off as she gestured to the group of teenagers.

"Me? No." Carri replied. Kim looked at her in disbelief. "I swear I didn't do anything. I've been with you the entire time."

"That doesn't mean you didn't just," Kim paused and pointed her finger and flicked her wrist, "when I wasn't looking. I'd never know."

Carri crossed her arms over her chest as she replied. "As much as I wanted to, I'm not that cruel."

Jason snorted and was promptly hit by Carri. "Anyway." He said ending that line of conversation. "I assume that thing was driving you crazy which was why it was a target."

"Something like that." Kim replied with a nod. Although crazy was the nice word for it.

"If the forces of evil hadn't jumped in I was seriously thinking about doing it." Carri added.

"Whatever." Jason replied rolling his eyes. She ran her mouth a lot and certainly struggled not to let her temper go when she got angry, but even she had better sense than to mess with a bunch of teenagers. "On to the more important things. What have you got for me?"

"Well," Carri started, taking a brief look around to make sure no one was paying them any attention, "for starters we have someone officially writing the script."

"Really?" Jason asked, his curiosity peaking. He didn't even know they had people they were looking at. When he signed the deal he essentially signed most of his rights away. His publisher thought it was a bad idea that he put all of his faith into the decision making of money hungry producers. But he knew Carri, and knew she would never go forward with anything he didn't approve of despite what rights he legally had. Their friendship was more important than that. "Anybody I've heard of?"

"Yes." Carri said as he glared at her. "But I can't say who just yet. Although he's started writing he hasn't actually signed the contract so I can't leak the details. I am going by with the paperwork on Monday. I will tell you that this person's last script was Oscar nominated. And he's a huge fan of yours. There should be a rough draft in a month or two we can look over."

Jason nodded, curious as to why there was so much secrecy over his project. He was the original author, he thought he could at least get the information about the project. "Is there anything you can say just yet?"

"I've got some A list actors who are interested in parts. They've read the book and were fascinated by it." Carri continued on.

"Who is it?" Kim asked. She couldn't help but get a little giddy. She'd love to have someone famous portray her on screen. Even though it wasn't officially her, it didn't matter. But if she had any choice in the matter, she did want someone who portrayed the features she found herself lacking. "Does the actress who wants to play me have big boobs? You know it is a movie, we can fudge the truth a little bit."

Carri couldn't help the laughter that followed and even Jason snickered. "Dad doesn't believe in starting speculation, so these actors won't even be considered for the parts until the script is done and they'd still have to accept. But I promise you won't be disappointed. Besides you remember how Jase depicted you on the cover of the book? I don't have much choice but to hire Pamela Anderson." She joked.

"Haha." Kim replied. Jason had been kind enough to make her character bustier than she was, but it wasn't that bad. "I want full, not overstuffed."

Although Jason was enjoying the discussion of large breasted actresses, he decided to switch to a more serious topic. "I get secrecy and all, but who am I gonna tell? And besides this is my project."

"Technically you signed it away to me so it's Ausus's project." Carri pointed out, the jovial tone fading as she took on her role of serious producer. "And there are very few people within the company that know anything about the project and my father will kill me if that status changes. This is going to be huge for us and for your book and he doesn't want it blown by leaking details. The fact that I'm telling you that we have a writer, actors interested and for the record a director we're in serious talks with could get me seriously reprimanded if anyone found out."

"What, like fired?" Jason questioned. He couldn't imagine that would be the case.

"I don't know." Carri said as she shook her head. She seriously doubted she'd get fired. After all Josh is guilty of worse infractions than that and he still worked for her father. But she wouldn't be surprised if he yanked the project out from under her.

Jason sighed. He had gotten a lot of useful information about the movie while at the same time he'd gotten a whole lot of nothing. "Alright. Well thank you for what you have." Although it would have been more worth his while had he made lunch with Emily. She didn't have any free time that afternoon besides lunch but despite how much he wanted to see her, he needed to make sure he got the information from Carri when he had the opportunity.

He was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to spend that evening with her. He wanted her to come to the reunion with him, as a friend of course, but he knew she wouldn't be well received. Not by any of his high school friends and especially not by his girls. Instead he would be going to the reunion by himself. The girls had tried to get him to bring a date but he told them he'd decided against it, saying that he'd enjoy the evening by spending time with old friends and that he didn't need to bring a girl just to have a date.

Kim spoke and pulled Jason far away from his thoughts on Emily for the moment. "It's still a lot of good information. I'm excited." Although it was still essentially going to be her love life that was going to be portrayed on the big screen, the truth was with the amount of people that had read the book and with the amount of coverage it had gotten the damage had already been done. Despite whether or not they knew it was her people were still enthralled with her character. It was alright now since she was getting the opportunity to cash in on it.

"We'll have to see." Carri said with a grin. "Trust me; as soon as I get things officially you guys will be the first to know. Before the press I promise."

"You better." Jason said giving her a stern look. She continued to grin at him and the stern look faded away. He didn't know how they managed to get to him like they did but he couldn't stay mad at either of his girls for long. Before he could speak again loud music came from the direction of the teenagers.

"Crap. They found it." Carri said with a groan.

"I thought you said you didn't do anything." Kim replied glaring at her. If she did, Kim would've been thankful as the silence was nice.

"It wasn't me. It must've pulled itself back together elsewhere." Carri assured her. It wasn't unheard of for an item that was made into a monster not to be returned to its exact position. Besides, had it been her she would've put it in the bottom of the lake.

"You girls want to go grab lunch?" Jason questioned. It took him all of three seconds to figure out why Carri would have had reason to throw that cd player elsewhere.

Carri glanced down at her watch. They still had a little bit of time before they were due in the salon. "Yeah let's go." She replied as she glanced at Kim who nodded. The trio stood and migrated out of the park as quickly as possible to avoid the loud obnoxious music.

* * *

Later that afternoon Tommy found himself standing in the Command Chamber waiting on Billy. He was there to probe him on any information he had on the Shadow Crystal. Things had been odd lately and he was fairly certain that it had to do with the crystal.

He didn't know where Rhianna was or why she hadn't attacked. Obviously she had a lot of power, power he honestly didn't know how to begin to defend against. The only logical explanation was that whatever had gone wrong in their last battle hadn't been fixed yet. Or perhaps it had and she was working on building up her powers even more. Tommy had seen it all and there wasn't much that frightened him, but that thought did. No matter what happened he'd still remain the calm, strong, leader of the rangers.

There was an opposite, overly optimistic way to look at it. That the crystal had damaged itself too much during their last battle and was now unusable. Or that something had happened to Rhianna, maybe even killed her, and they no longer had to worry about battling her, only Callisto. Although his team had gotten that lucky once, when Mondo disappeared and it turned out Zedd had killed him, he doubted that was the case this time.

Either way it explained what had been going on lately. How practically the only fights they had seen were those against Cirranadrones, and those weren't anything to get too worked up about. Although the earlier monster was equipped with serious sound waves, it didn't take anything more than earplugs to block them out and then he was a piece of cake. Even their visit from Callisto was lackluster at best. Carri was quick to exchange words with her and put on a few moves that were enough to get the goddess to get upset and leave.

It was that one battle with Callisto that led him to think Rhianna was going to strike again and strike harder this time. If the goddess didn't have a larger goal in mind she would've fought harder, and would still be fighting harder. Something was going on and he was almost positive it had to do with Rhianna and the Shadow Crystal. Which is why it made what Billy had found out even more important and why after letting the thoughts float around for a while after the monster battle he needed to talk to him.

Tommy crossed his arms and leaned back against a console just as Billy teleported in. The former blue ranger looked over at him and flashed him a smile. He had chosen a poor time to ask for the information, as he and Trini were in the process of getting dressed and getting ready to leave to make the trek for the reunion. But Tommy was the leader and this was ranger information and that came first.

"What have you got for me?" Tommy asked, skipping the pleasantries and going straight to the reason they were both there.

"I'll be honest Tommy, not much." Billy replied as he shook his head. Those in the ranger community only heard most of the same rumors that Karone repeated when they were here a few weeks earlier. He had only gotten one response from outside the ranger community and that wasn't worth the effort it took to send out requests for information.

"Anything we know at this point is good." Tommy replied, resisting the urge to sigh. They were in the dark and he didn't like it. "For starters, how is she using one piece of the crystal?"

"No one knows." Billy said shaking his head. "The crystal together is very powerful. Almost unstoppable. From what I've been told we're lucky she only has the one piece. As dangerous as it is in its entirety, the theory is that one piece was able to retain enough power to do some damage on its own."

"How do we combat the one piece?" Tommy asked. Stopping her was most important. If they didn't know how she was doing what she was doing it would be difficult, but not impossible.

"That's the thing. According to all historical accounts, the last evil being to use the Shadow Crystal used it in its entirety. As far as anyone knows, the powers turned out to be too much and the crystal killed him while breaking itself into four pieces." Billy started with information that had been touched on before. "Nowhere does it say that the ancient rangers did anything to provoke the explosion of the crystal. Perhaps it was the battle itself but there's no way to know with any certainty."

"When we fought Rhianna her powers became unstable." Tommy said speaking out loud. "Maybe that's the key. But she hasn't tried to fight again. It's possible they figured out how to stabilize one piece of the crystal. If it's not as powerful as four pieces, perhaps it's easier to manage."

"There is one other thing." Billy said looking Tommy square in the eye. "There is a rumor that there is something beyond the powers of the Shadow Crystal. A power that only masters of the crystal can achieve. It's something so dangerous that Rhianna could destroy the planet without doing much more than lifting a finger."

"Rumor? We need to find out with certainty if this power exists." Tommy said. Something like that was not to be taken lightly. Should the rumors be true it would be nice to know well in advance.

"The problem is there is no one who knows for sure. Even with the ancient rangers it was purely speculation. When the being using the Shadow Crystal imploded they thought there was more to it, but records indicate that the situation was so crazy they were lucky to retreat with the four pieces of the crystal." Billy replied. He had investigated into the rumor to the best of his abilities. The chances are that Callisto knows for sure, and perhaps other evil beings as well. None of them would be willing to give their information to the Power Rangers.

Tommy shook his head. "There are too many assumptions to make." He said as he thought about it. "We'll assume that this greater power exists. We know that the last person to access it had all four pieces of the crystal. We can assume that Rhianna's one piece wouldn't be enough to obtain the powers as theoretically you couldn't obtain the same level of mastery with one piece as you could four. Assuming she got the power she may not have full access to it, and it very well may kill her before we have to worry about it." The agitation in his voice was showing through as he shared his thoughts with Billy.

"I've considered all those theories as well." Billy assured him. "I have the databases running overtime to see what they can find. I've also sent out word across the galaxy to anyone who can fill in the gaps. So far if anyone knows they're not talking and our databases don't have anything. I've spoken with Phantom Ranger. He's going to look through Zordon's old databases on Eltar and see if he can find anything that will be of use to us."

"Fine." Tommy replied. He didn't have much else to say on the matter. He couldn't force information from Billy that he didn't have, no matter how much he needed to know. "The minute you hear something regarding the possible existence of this mystery power, let me know."

"Of course." Billy said with a nod. Tommy quickly nodded back in his direction before teleporting out. As he left Billy shook his head and sighed. He certainly hoped that all the rumors that were floating around were nothing more than rumors, but only time would tell. After a quick check of all his systems, Billy teleported back home to gather his wife and head to the reunion.

* * *

Tommy teleported into his apartment to find his girlfriend sitting on the couch. For a moment he thought about telling her what he'd just learned from Billy, but she looked so gorgeous and nervous about the reunion that he decided it could wait a while. He smiled as he went to sit next to her.

"Hey beautiful." He said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss. "You should go with Carri to get fixed up more often. You look amazing."

Kim couldn't help but blush, some of the nerves surrounding what she wanted to talk about fading away. "Are you saying I don't always look this beautiful?" she teased.

"I'd never say that." Tommy replied smiling at her. He put his hand on her thigh and thought about what he would do to her if they didn't have this reunion to get to. He took a deep breath, pulling his thoughts together so he could speak. "I'm going to go shower and get ready so we're not late."

Kim felt Tommy's fingers linger against her thigh for a moment as he stood. Briefly she thought about backing out. But she couldn't. She told herself she was going to do it and she had to make good on that. "Before you do, there's something we need to talk about."

"Oh." Tommy said sitting back down. No good conversation ever began with we need to talk. "What's on your mind?"

"It's, well, you see," Kim paused for a moment and took a few deep breaths. She closed her eyes and thought about the upcoming conversation. She was a red ranger and this was a conversation between two leaders, not between a boyfriend and girlfriend. She had to look at it that way and she pulled herself into ranger mode as she opened her eyes and continued. "We need to discuss my powers."

"What about them?" Tommy asked, concern showing in his voice. He always knew things were going to get even more serious from the events at the Muirantian pit. It simultaneously scared and enthralled him to think about what Kim would be going through.

"I'm sure you've noticed on the battlefield that my powers are essentially growing. It's why Jakar came here, to test me."

Tommy nodded. He noticed a lot more than she thought he did. He wanted to ask her about it but even more he wanted her to tell him about it. He wasn't sure if she hadn't been ready to discuss them before or if she simply was unsure of what was going on herself.

"A lot of what you've seen so far have been simple things, most of which I learned from Dulcea." She continued on, declining to explain that some of what she's learned from Dulcea had come much more recently than what Tommy suspected. "Remember what I told you about teleporting across the room? Well." She stopped and flashed him a smile. It would be easier for him to see what she was doing than for her to just explain it.

Tommy watched curiously as a light developed from within Kim, completely engulfing her before she disappeared. A few seconds later she returned, souvenir in hand to prove she'd left their apartment. She held her hand up and jiggled her trinket in Tommy's face.

"Whose phone is that?" Tommy asked in amazement regarding the vaguely familiar device she was waving around.

"Carri's." Kim replied, dropping it beside her clutch so she could remember to return it later that evening. Hopefully her friend wouldn't miss it too much, she was nowhere to be found when she teleported herself into the house.

"So you can just do that?" Tommy asked in amazement. "Teleport yourself where ever you want? Without any help from the teleporter?"

"Yes." Kim answered simply. "I can go in this dimension, in others, through time, almost flawlessly." She was getting quite the hang of it and she was extremely proud of herself. It was still frightening and thrilling but she was learning so much.

Tommy stared at her for a moment, the fears that had manifested themselves slowly crawling back to the surface. "So exactly how long have you been able to do this?"

"I just got a hold of it. I've been working on it ever since I moved in with you." She said honestly, watching as any of the remaining sexual playfulness from a few minutes before dropped from Tommy's demeanor entirely and he sat straight up and crossed his arms over his chest. She knew the look. It was much more than an upset boyfriend. It was one of Earth's highest ranking rangers feeling as though he'd been left out of something relevant to his cause. She expected it, but unlike most rangers of Earth she wasn't going to let him intimidate her. Although he was well known on Earth, she was quite possibly bigger throughout the intergalactic community and no matter what her feelings toward Tommy were she was going to explain herself and stand by her decisions as a ranger.

"I know what you're thinking." She said before he got the chance to ask the question. "I'm not intentionally keeping you from parts of my life nor am I keeping vital ranger related information from you. I simply choose not to tell you until I had a grasp on the ability so that you wouldn't worry about me."

"You have Muirantian powers, powers that Jakar came here to fight us over." Tommy said evenly. Kim's secrecy with Elemi that day suddenly made sense. It angered him to think that the red Nova ranger, a man who had obvious feelings for Kim, knew of the growing importance of her powers and she couldn't share it with him. "Not to mention the fact that I thought being in love meant sharing everything with each other."

"I'm sharing with you now aren't I?" Kim questioned raising an eyebrow. "I could have just as easily kept it a secret until more serious details came out in battle." She pointed out. There was no doubt in her mind that at some point, be it now or in the far away future, Kim would have had to teleport herself or something else during battle. "As for ranger related information, I chose not to tell you until I had something more solid. I know you Tommy, you'd divide your time between worrying about me trying to develop my teleportation powers and what Callisto and Rhianna are doing. You are our leader, you are a leader on this planet, and I wanted your focus solely to be on Callisto and Rhianna and protecting Earth. My powers don't factor into that fight."

Tommy said nothing as he silently agreed with her. He already worried about her more as a boyfriend than a fellow ranger. With everything that's happened, with what he just found out, his focus needed to be on Rhianna and the Shadow Crystal. And although he didn't agree with her decision as her boyfriend and merely accepted it as a ranger, like it or not he'd respect the decision she had made. In an effort to keep a diplomatic conversation between two leaders going, he continued on. "Have you learned anything else I need to know about?"

"I've learned a lot but mastered almost nothing. Until I do there's no reason discussing it because it's not a factor." She replied as she glanced down at him waiting for a response.

"Fair enough." He said diplomatically. "I do ask that you continue to keep me informed of your progress."

"Of course." She said with a nod. She would certainly let him know when she mastered a new power. She was learning more, but she hadn't really gotten a hold of anything else. Things like the ability to sense grids, which she could do be fore, but now she could almost interact with them. Although she had only done it once accidentally and hadn't mastered the skill, she could sense other Kimberly's. These were amazing things, and just the thought of them gave her a rush. Pushing those thoughts aside, she glanced down at Tommy. "Are we ok?"

Tommy thought for a moment. He was hurt, but he still loved her, there was no question about that. "Yes. It's just a lot to process." She nodded as he stood and stepped over to her, giving her a brief hug. "I'm going to go get ready now." He said quickly as he stepped past her and headed toward the bedroom.

Kim sighed as she took a seat on the couch while waiting for him to get showered and dressed. It hadn't been a complete disaster, but it was close. She didn't doubt that he would get over his initial anger, but it was a shock and he worried and she imagined that this whole process was going to be very hard on him. As a ranger he'd get used to it. As long as he continued to love who she was becoming as her boyfriend, everything would be just fine.

* * *

Carri and Rocky sat at home waiting for the rest of the current rangers to arrive so they could take a limo together to the reunion. Carri had thought it would be fun to go together, much like senior prom, only without Adam or Kat and with Kim. The boys had seemed not to care and Kim thought it would be a great idea. Although she hadn't been around for senior prom, they had all taken a limo together to the Winter Wonderland dance, one of the last things they did before she left for Miami. They only wished they could take all the former rangers with them as well, however the only other former ranger that was local Carri declined to invite and the rest of them were coming from all over.

At their agreed meeting time there was a knock on the door. Carri was curious as to who it was as most of her friends just came right on in. She jumped off the couch and headed to the door with Rocky following behind her. She assumed the limo driver was there early, and upon opening the door she was surprised to see Rocky's Angel Grove secretary standing there.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned raising an eyebrow.

Ally Gardner glanced at the woman standing in the doorway. She didn't really look angry but she didn't seem happy to see her either. "I, well, uh"

"Carri you remember Ally don't you?" Rocky asked, worming his way in beside her and putting an arm around her.

"Yes." She said drawing out the word. The fact that she knew her didn't explain what she was doing on her doorstep. "The thing is, I don't remember her graduating with us. Or being invited over."

"I invited her." Rocky said as she turned to him and gave him a look that was a cross between anger and curiosity. He took that as his cue to speak quickly. "I told her about the reunion and she was talking about all the people that went to Angel Grove High that she'd like to see again. And I said maybe she could come as my guest. But she didn't want to come as my guest since I was coming with you so we joked about getting her a date and I thought you kept talking about Jason not finding a date, maybe they could go together." He only declined to tell her before because if Jason found a last minute date he still wanted Ally to be able to go as his guest. And although she wouldn't be jealous, he wasn't sure if she'd be thrilled with him taking a guest she didn't know well but he knew she wouldn't turn her down once she was already there.

"Oh." Carri said, suddenly highly amused. If she and Kim couldn't get him to ask anyone to go with him, setting him up was the next best thing. There's no way that Jason would really want to show up at this thing single despite what he said, especially when practically every other former ranger was brining a date. "Come on in." She said gesturing toward the living room.

Ally let out a sigh of relief as she walked into the living room behind Rocky, sitting down on the couch with her boss and friend. She heard the door shut and glanced around to see if Carri was coming in. Upon not seeing her she shrugged and decided to start chatting. "This is a nice house." She commented as she glanced around, taking in everything she could see.

"Thank you." Rocky replied. "Although Carri did most everything with it so she deserves the credit." He did feel as though now that they were getting married it was their house and their things, but she still owned the place and she still decorated it and he wasn't going to take any of that credit.

Ally nodded briefly before changing subjects. "I can't wait to see everybody." It had been years since she had seen some of her friends from Stone Canyon.

"I'm sure they'll be excited to see you." Rocky said with a smile. It had been weird when the county had suddenly redrawn the school lines. He had thought that they would all graduate from Stone Canyon together. Instead he only graduated with a third of the people in his freshman class at Stone Canyon. The rest were new friends from Angel Grove. Which hadn't been a bad thing. The new friends led to the rangers which led to pretty much everything he had at this point in his life.

"Yes and." Ally stopped as the front door opened and two voices filled the hallway, the door shutting as the voices grew near. Looking up she saw Carri and a man she didn't know walking in.

"Hey." Jason greeted, glancing from Rocky to the strange girl on the couch. Carri had seen him pull up and had walked out to greet him, and as they were talking she never mentioned a visitor. He looked back at her and she had a smirk on her face. He hoped this wasn't what he thought it was.

Rocky stood and Ally did as well. "Jason this is Ally. She's my secretary in Angel Grove."

"Hello." Ally greeted as she extended her hand. She gave him a once over as he took her hand and shook it.

"Hi." Jason said as he shot Carri a look. "So, did you go to Angel Grove?" he asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

"Stone Canyon. That's how I met Rocky and his friends." She replied.

"She's coming tonight to see some of us who got transferred to Angel Grove." Rocky started, flashing Jason a smile before continuing. "And I figured maybe since you weren't going with anyone maybe you could hang around with her, keep her company."

Jason tried hard not to scowl. This was exactly what he thought it was. Another blind date. From Rocky of all people. Kim and Carri he considered his sisters, and although he didn't care for it he tolerated it from them, putting on smiles and agreeing to go so they wouldn't worry. But from Rocky? He'd do it, after all Ally was here and he wasn't going to be a jackass in front of her. She didn't deserve that.

He was already way past tired of being set up. He didn't understand why his friends thought he was so pathetic that he needed help getting dates. He could get dates. Easily. Assuming he wanted to. Which he didn't. He passed his time hanging out with Emily. Of course they didn't know that. They probably thought he sat at home alone all night. But that shouldn't mean they had to set him up. Although he would expect that from his girls. But not Rocky. Next thing he knows Billy or Tommy was going to try and set him up. It was getting to be too much and he found himself offended.

"Of course I can keep her company." He said with a forced smile on his face.

"Great." Rocky replied.

Ally and Rocky sat back down on the couch, with Ally motioning for Jason to join them. Reluctantly he had a seat before giving Carri a look. She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a pity face. Although he knew she was thrilled to see him taking a date, he doubted she had any more clue about it than he did.

Carri shook her head as she drifted into the kitchen to separate herself from the awkwardness that was developing in the living room. It was a good idea when Rocky suggested it a few minutes ago. After all she and Kim had been bugging Jason about finding a date for this thing for a while. But he obviously wasn't happy about the surprise set up. She wasn't stupid, she knew he only tolerated it from her and Kim because it was her and Kim. But all of his friends cared about him and he needed to open himself up to dating again. And if he wasn't going to do that on his own he'd get pestered until he did.

Leaning up against the kitchen counter, Carri heard the front door open. She stepped out of the kitchen and peeked around toward the front hallway, just in time to see Kim and Tommy wonder in. "Hey guys!" she greeted.

"Hey." Kim replied, quickly walking over toward her as Tommy said his hellos and headed toward the living room. Kim glanced quickly in her boyfriend's direction and immediately noticed the stranger sitting there. "Who's that?" she questioned in a whisper.

Reaching out and grabbing her wrist, Carri led Kim into the kitchen. When they were hidden away where they could speak softly without being rude she launched into the explanation. "That is Ally. Rocky's secretary. Apparently she wanted to hang out with some of the Angel Grove class of '97. And Rocky is officially bringing her as his guest. However he really brought her to set her up with Jason."

"Seriously?" Kim said with a smirk. She and Carri had wanted Jason to go with someone, but she never expected Rocky to set him up. "What does he think about this?"

Carri snorted. "You know how he feels about being set up. He's going along with it but I don't think he's happy."

"I can imagine." Kim said. He didn't even finish his date with Carri's actress. And although he went through the date Kim set him up with, he never called her again. He claimed it was fun but she wasn't his type. Kim sighed as it suddenly hit her that she had something of Carri's. "Oh!" she exclaimed out loud as she reached into her clutch. "This belongs to you."

Carri took her phone out of Kim's outstretched hands. "How the hell did you end up with this? I've been looking for it all over the place." She said genuinely confused. She had spent the last hour searching the house for it as she had a few small things to take care of before the reunion.

"Sorry." Kim said apologetically. "When I showed Tommy I could teleport I wanted to prove to him that I could go where I wanted to go so I slipped in here and took your phone. I was going to tell you but I didn't see you anywhere."

"Back up a second." Carri said, the borrowed cell phone forgotten. "You really told Tommy?" She questioned as Kim nodded. "Everything?"

"Mostly everything." Kim replied. "I told him about Jakar. And teleporting. And that I was being exposed to more new powers and as I learned how to master them I'd share those with him too."

"So how did he take it?" Carri questioned.

"As good as can be expected." Kim said evenly as Carri raised an eyebrow. She sighed as she elaborated. "I think as a ranger and a boyfriend he's kinda pissed I didn't fill him in earlier. But we're ok. He's a little distant but I think once he gets his head around it he'll be fine."

"Well good for you." Carri said giving her a nod. "Now you can teleport off and do whatever and you don't have to worry about him worrying."

Kim gave a little snort. "He doesn't exactly know how long I've been gone when I've teleported. The next time I go and tell him where I'm off to then come right back he'll know."

"You mean the next time you leave and five minutes later come back and jump his bones he'll realize you've been gone a lot longer than five minutes." Carri teased.

Kim blushed. She didn't respond, but she didn't need to. She told Carri how hard it was when she disappeared for a while, and how much she wanted him when she got back. Tommy merely thought it was some sort of new phase, for her to passionately want him some nights when he came home. And he certainly didn't argue with it. Once she told him she was teleporting away those nights it wouldn't be hard to figure out that she was actually staying gone longer than it appeared.

Carri had a remark sitting on the tip of her tongue but it was silenced when she heard a knock at the door. "That must be the limo driver." She said as she walked over to answer it. Upon confirming her suspicions, she yelled for everyone to get their stuff together so they could go. A few minutes later the group of six were on their way to Angel Grove High.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to reach the gym and get everyone checked in. As they walked through the double doors into the actual gymnasium, they were swept away with memories of their youth. Although the gym was decked out for the reunion, there was no denying it was their same old high school gym.

As they entered Carri spotted Matt, Luke, Jerry and John, friend's she'd had since elementary school. Leaving the others she headed over to say hello. The rangers continued making their way through the gym looking for their former teammates.

Kim glanced at the people passing her by. Some of them she remembered. Others she either never crossed paths with or they attended the school after she had left. As she continued to look around she spotted two of their friends. "Hey guys!" she called out across the gym floor.

"Hey!" Trini said as she waved and pulled Billy in their direction. She smiled at her friends as they approached. "How are you guys doing?"

"Good." Kim replied.

"I believe several of the others have gathered already and grabbed a table in the corner." Billy said as he gestured toward the small group of former rangers and their dates.

"Let's go say hello." Jason said as he quickly made his way in their direction, dragging Ally with him. As he took off the others followed suit.

Walking across the gym floor, Rocky spotted some of the guys he used to play baseball with. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up." He said as he headed toward the small group.

The ones that were left headed toward the table, where they found the remainder of the former rangers and their dates. Hello's were exchanged and introductions were made as everyone went to sit around the table. Most everyone was familiar with each other. Kat was there and had brought Chris, both of whom were passing around baby pictures to anyone who wanted to see them. Tanya had taken a seat beside her, and the two best friends were ooing and aahing over Denise. Aisha had come with Dan, a vet that she worked with in San Diego. Zack hadn't brought a date, and the thought occurred to Kim that she should've known Jason wouldn't have been the only one flying solo.

Kim pointedly took the seat farthest away from Kat as small talk buzzed around the table while they waited for their missing friends. "It's kind of nice having us all in one place for social purposes." Kim commented, smiling over in Zack and Aisha's direction. She hadn't seen Zack since she was in college. From what she heard he had become some sort of big shot politician in New York.

"What other purposes are there?" Ally joked with a smile.

"Oh, uh, you know, school or work or what not." Kim tried to think of some sort of satisfactory response. Not that Ally would ever guess that she was sitting at a table with nine of the twelve rangers under Zordon who defended Angel Grove.

"I haven't even seen you guys in those instances." Zack pointed out. He was one of the few of the original rangers who hadn't been able to show up to the meeting they'd held at the beginning of Callisto and Rhianna's attacks. He was simply too important and too busy to disappear without being noticed, and Billy assured him that there were enough former rangers attending that the conflict could easily be handed without him. For that reason he elected to not attend.

"I know you've been making yourself scarce." Jason joked with his friend. "How long you in town for?"

"My flight leaves at five tomorrow night." Zack replied.

"Good." Jason said. "Then you'll be here long enough for lunch and beers."

Zack smiled. "Lunch and beers with you? Wouldn't miss it for the world." It had been too long since he'd had the opportunity to hang out with Jason. They had been so close in high school and through the Peace Conferences, but once Jason came home they hardly had time to say hello.

"Great that's all we need is you two out causing trouble." Kim teased looking from one of the original rangers to the other.

"Since when have Jase and I ever been troublemakers?" Zack questioned grinning at Kim.

Trini giggled. "I seriously doubt she has to answer that question."

"Exactly since we all know the answer is never." Zack said with a laugh.

"I think the correct answer is since birth." A female voice piped up from behind. Several sets of eyes turned to see Carri, Rocky and Adam all making their way over toward the table. Adam had stopped to say hello to the former baseball players who Rocky went to speak with and Carri eventually mingled her way toward.

Jason gave her a half smile. "Good thing your opinion doesn't count." He joked as those sitting at the table jumped up to greet the newcomers.

As the trio said hello to everyone the group migrated toward the middle of the table as they were all now standing and chatting. Jason was at the back of the group and he watched as Ally pushed her way toward the middle in order to be able to visit with Adam and Aisha. He noticed Zack maneuver in his direction and as he approached him he grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.

"Spread the word around. I've got a huge suite that I'm staying in and I want you guys to drop by afterwards." Zack said as he gestured toward the group.

"By you guys am I to assume you mean the rangers?" Jason questioned.

Zack nodded. "Yeah. Sorry but you're gonna have to leave your date at home."

"She's not my date." Jason was quick to point out.

"Funny she's sure hanging around you like she is." Zack replied. "So if she's not your date what is she? Your escort?"

"Something like that." Jason said as he shook his head. Zack gave him a look. "She's a friend of Rocky's and he thought I'd like to go with her. Truthfully I don't mind going by myself."

"Guys like us get dates when we want them. We don't need any help." Zack joked. "But it was nice of him to try. She is good looking."

"Maybe if I was looking for a relationship." Jason replied. He thought for a moment about telling Zack about Michelle and why they split and why the girls were trying to set him up. He decided against it, at least for now. He didn't want to get into that conversation and he didn't need another friend trying to set him up.

Ally looked up and waved to him, raising her voice to speak. "I'm going to go mingle. Want to join?" She asked. She'd had fun talking with all of Rocky's old friends from high school but she'd seen a lot of other people she wanted to say hello to. She felt awkward going by herself and she was really hoping that Jason would go with her. After all, he was kind of her date.

"No I'm good. I'm going to stay here and talk to these guys." Jason said gesturing to his group of friends.

Kim and Carri noticed the look of disappointment on her face as she told the small group that she'd be back in a bit and took off. "We've got to get him out of this funk." Kim said to her friend.

"I know." Carri agreed. "He's turning down dates, not interested in girls who are interested in him, something's seriously wrong." This wasn't like Jason at all. She'd take the revolving door of women over his sudden lack of interest in the gender.

"We'll have to probe him about it later." Kim said as she nodded her head in agreement. She tried to forget about that and enjoy her conversations with her closest friends from high school. As she listened intently to the speech Aisha had just launched into she realized that it was hard for her to put all her thoughts in a box and stick them aside while she enjoyed herself. Some of them were simple to hide. But the ones involving the rangers, her Muirantian powers, those were next to impossible to push away. She took a deep breath and focused, trying hard to drown her mind out while the reunion got into full swing.

* * *

A few hours later the rangers found themselves sitting in Zack's hotel suite, drinking beers and chatting as though they'd never left high school. The non ranger dates had been dropped off or driven home, leaving the others a chance to really talk. The first bit of the conversation involved tying up the loose ends from what had been said in the gymnasium. After a while, the conversation quickly switched to ranger related things.

"So what's it like fighting the daughter of Zedd and Rita?" Adam asked once the conversation had stalled.

"She's a lot like her parents." Kim commented. She had a feeling that with guidance her powers would develop much like those of her mother. They already knew she had their hatred of the rangers and her parent's ability to make odd monsters out of objects that weren't exactly ideal.

"And by that she means she's not very bright but hates us a whole lot and thinks a few crummy monsters will destroy us." Jason said with a laugh. He didn't know how many times in battle he'd seen the monster and felt as though he'd been transported back to 1993.

"The difference is she's working with Callisto and she has a piece of the Shadow Crystal." Tommy said seriously, quickly ending the jovial tone Jason had brought into the conversation.

"What exactly does that mean for you guys?" Tanya asked as she leaned into her husband.

"We don't know yet." Carri replied shrugging her shoulders. "It could mean nothing or it could be really, really bad."

"If you ever need help let me know. I'll do whatever I can." Adam volunteered. He really missed being an active ranger. He wouldn't go back in time and change his decision to pass on Zeo four's power after high school graduation. Being in New York with Tanya was the best idea he ever had. He went through film school at NYU all the while being an intern with Hilltop Productions, eventually getting him into the higher status position he held now.

He knew that between his overloaded work schedule and Tanya's singing career he simply didn't have the ability to fight evil full time. But that didn't mean he didn't want to try and help. It wasn't long after giving up his powers that he knew he missed being a ranger. That's why he was always ready to help out if possible when the rangers asked. There had been a few occasions that his skills as a former ranger were needed. Twice while he was attending NYU he returned to Angel Grove for short stints to help out. A few months ago he had been tapped by the Sentinel Knight to help out with a problem they were having. He was lucky then that there was down time in between projects and that he could leave for a while.

"We'll keep that in mind." Tommy replied, knowing that they could very well find a use for him. He knew Adam had helped the Overdrive team recently. It was he who suggested Adam to the Sentinel Knight after he contacted him and informed him that their morphing gird was disabled. Although he was concerned, he'd simply been too busy with Rhianna to allow his team to step in and help especially since they had no idea how long it would take to get the grid back up. It was nearly impossible for a current team to assist another current team, as they realized on the few occasions they'd asked the Overdrive team for assistance. Instead he suggested two former rangers who he knew were still interested in the fight. Adam, who had always been willing to jump up and pitch in and Kira, who had suggested on more than one occasion that she'd give him a hand fighting evil if his team needed it, were the two rangers that immediately came to mind. The Sentinel Knight went on to contact them and then he recruited the other three rangers for his team.

As they sat there thinking about the fight Carri's phone rang. Looking down she quickly realized it was Kenny Nolan, her production assistant, who was on location halfway across the world. "Crap I gotta take this." She said as she stood, answering the phone as she headed for the room's balcony. "Just tell me this isn't something bad." She greeted Kenny as she shut the door behind herself, leaving the others in the room.

"Kind of late for a phone call." Kat commented. Of course she had no idea what her cousin was into and why she would be receiving a phone call at midnight.

Adam thought for a moment, remembering an earlier conversation with Carri. "Probably someone from her show. I think they're in Nepal." Certainly when you worked on a show you could get calls at any hour, day or night. And when your team was shooting footage over twelve hours away from your location and they needed your attention immediately, it didn't matter how late it was in Angel Grove.

"That makes sense." Kat said, silently embarrassed by all the strange thoughts that had just run through her head. She used to not immediately think the worst of her cousin, but they'd been so distant lately she hardly knew anything about her anymore. Kat wanted to be back on solid terms with her before the baby was born but that didn't happen. They hadn't spoken much in the almost two weeks since she gave birth. Carri did at least drop by with a gift a few days prior when she knew Chris was gone. They made a few minutes of small talk before Carri said she had to go back to work.

The room got silent for a minute, before the rangers started making various conversations around the room. Jason found himself sitting in the corner, not really talking to anyone. He glanced down at his watch to see the time. Emily had said that if he got done before two am and wanted to meet for a quick beer she'd be happy to oblige since they hadn't been able to make lunch that afternoon. Although he enjoyed spending time with the former rangers, he was seriously thinking about taking her up on that offer. After all he didn't have much more here that he felt as though he needed to say.

He thought about it for a moment before making his mind up. "Well everyone, I have to be somewhere in the morning so I need to head out."

"Aw that's too bad!" Trini exclaimed as she went to give him a hug.

"We still on for lunch?" Zack asked as he extended his hand to his old friend.

"Of course." Jason replied. He quickly said his goodbyes to the others before exiting the hotel room.

Conversation continued on after Jason had left. Except for Kim and Aisha's conversation. The pink ranger quickly finished what she was saying before excusing herself. With a shrug Aisha turned to talk to Adam as Kim headed outside. Sliding the glass door closed Carri turned to look at her as she finished up her own conversation.

"Yeah that'll work. Call me if you need anything else." She said pausing for a second. "Ok. Bye." As she ended the call she turned toward Kim. "What's up?"

"Jase just blew us off." Kim told her. It seriously bothered her that Jason would run out of a ranger reunion like that. He didn't have anywhere to be, she couldn't imagine why he would ditch them.

"You're kidding." Carri said as she raised an eyebrow and looked at her friend.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Kim replied as she crossed her arms over her chest and made a face.

Carri sighed. "So why would he take off? What did he say?"

"He had somewhere to be in the morning. Which is a lie. He told us he was going to party late and sleep late." Kim reminded her.

"Yeah he did." Carri said with a nod. "And midnight isn't late. We need to figure out what's going on. First he ditches dates, now his closest friends. Something is up with him."

"You think we should follow him?" Kim questioned. She wasn't sure that was the best idea in the world but he obviously wasn't going to tell them if something else was going on.

"Isn't that evil?" Carri questioned as she thought about it. Of course who was she to judge, it was exactly what she would've suggested had she had more time to think. Before Kim could answer the question she continued. "We should definitely follow him. If we can catch up to him."

"He may be long gone by now." Kim said absentmindedly as she thought about it.

"Or, and I wouldn't share this with anyone else, we could use the Command Chamber sensors. They'll find him quickly." Carri pointed out. It was a good idea, however she knew it wouldn't go over well. The equipment was at their disposal but it was for ranger related purposes, not personal agendas. She could justify it by saying they were using it to check on Jason, and if something's wrong with him he could endanger the team. She just wasn't sure if anyone else would buy it.

"Yeah." Kim said as she contemplated Carri's suggestion. "We just won't tell anyone." Especially Tommy. The last thing she needed after her afternoon was him pissed at her for using the Command Chamber for purposes not ranger related.

"We'll just tell the guys that we're worried and want to check on him. And that we'll be right back." Carri said.

Kim nodded. "They should go for that." She turned and headed toward the door, opening it and heading in with Carri right behind her. The two girls approached their boyfriends, who were in the middle of a conversation with Adam.

"We're gonna take off for a few minutes. We'll be back." Carri said as she leaned up and gave Rocky a kiss on the cheek.

"What for?" Rocky asked, looking down at his fiancé and raising an eyebrow.

"We're going to go check on Jason. He's not acting like himself, ignoring dates we've set him up with and now taking off on his friends so early. Something's up with him." Kim explained as Tommy and Rocky exchanged a look. "We won't be gone long I promise."

"I don't know if you need to go spy on him." Tommy was quick to point out. Whatever it was, it was Jason's business and when and if he wanted to share he would.

"Spying is such a dirty word." Carri said with a frown. "It's checking up on. And someone needs to. He's friends with all of us, we can't let him self-destruct."

Rocky nodded. She did have a point. Jason was their friend and someone needed to check on him and these days he was closest with the girls. It was still hard to get past their close friendship. But he was the one she was getting married to and since nothing has happened after all these years he'd have to try and not think about it. "Be back soon?"

"We will. Promise." Carri said giving him another kiss.

Tommy could tell Rocky wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea. But the girls were going to do it with or without their ok, so he might as well give it. He leaned in and gave Kim a kiss. "We'll keep some beers and snacks for you."

"See you soon." Kim said, giving him a wave as she and Carri headed out of the hotel room.

They made their way to the elevator and rode it down to the lobby, exiting the building and heading around back until they found a dark, quiet spot to teleport. Upon entering the Command Chamber they went straight for the controls. They worked to quickly get things running so they could track the black ranger's whereabouts.

They watched as he continued moving down the road, making a few turns before finally coming to a stop at an address on the other side of town. Keying in the address they discovered it was a small local bar.

"What do you think he's doing there?" Carri asked. Not that Jason couldn't go drinking, but they were all drinking together in the hotel room and for him to take off to go drinking by himself didn't make any sense.

"I have no clue." Kim replied as she thought about it. "Do you think we've been wrong? Maybe he's not spending all his nights home alone, maybe he's spending them in a bar alone."

"What, picking up one night stands?" Carri asked. It was certainly a possibility. However, even though he had been involved in relationships that hadn't lasted past one night of sex he was genuinely looking for something and wasn't into picking up drunks at bars.

Kim shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think so." It wasn't like Jason. But it seemed as though Michelle crushed him. She was a reminder that he wasn't allowed to have a normal life and a normal girlfriend with his past and present history as a ranger. Relationships were tough for him and he could feel the need to have a lot of casual sex to make up for not having the emotional bond.

Perhaps he was depressed. Why else spend your nights at bars and lie to your friends about it. Maybe it wasn't even sex he was after. Maybe he was washing the pain away every night. Drinking until he forgot that while his friends were out with their significant others, he was all alone. "What if he's become an alcoholic?" Kim asked aloud.

"You really think?" Carri started as Kim shrugged. "I don't know. I mean he likes a few beers here and there, but alcoholic?"

"Think about it. He doesn't have a normal job. So he could easily drink all night, sober up in the morning before he writes, and not have a person to answer to who would know otherwise." Kim pointed out. They would never know, not until he was to the point where he was stumbling around during ranger missions. "He could be hiding his depression around us only to drink it away at night."

"You're right." Carri said as she realized that it was highly possible. And it would explain a lot. Him not wanting to date, not hanging around a lot of nights, ditching them during the reunion. "We have to help him. We can't let him become an alcoholic. We need an intervention."

"Let's teleport down to the bar. We'll go in there, see if we can get him to go home." Kim started as the wheels in her head were turning. "We'll tell him that we care for him, and that we're there for him, and we'll help him get help."

"We have to go down there." Carri said as she started to come up with a good reason for an intervention that they were about to commence on nothing more than a hunch about what was going on. "He's our friend. And a ranger. We can't let him, nor can he afford to do this to himself."

"Then we agree?" Kim asked, turning toward Carri. Her friend nodded at her. "Good. Then let's go down to the bar and help Jason."

The two female rangers spend a few minutes going through the Command Chamber's computers and making any trace of their search disappear. Once they were satisfied, they quickly teleported down to a secluded spot near the bar before gathering themselves together and walking in.

* * *

Jason found himself heading into the bar and sitting on a stool next to Emily. "Hello." He greeted as he ordered himself a beer.

"Hey there. I'm glad you could make it." Emily replied flashing him a smile. She was surprised he called, she had expected him to hang out with his old friends all night.

Jason smiled back at her. "Couldn't end the night without a beer with a friend." Meaning he hated to end the night without seeing her. He didn't like to take off on the other rangers like that, but Zack was the only one he really missed that he didn't see on some sort of regular basis and they were having lunch tomorrow. So he'd rather spend the last few moments of the night with Emily.

"So I take it the reunion is over?" Emily questioned. It didn't really matter to her but she was slightly surprised to see him that night. She figured if he was hanging out with all the old rangers he'd be gone until the early hours of the morning.

"For the most part. A few of the old gang are hanging out in Zack's hotel room." Jason replied. Really all of the old gang but he wasn't going to give her all the details. He didn't want her to know that he ditched everyone for her.

Emily was slightly surprised. "Oh? And yet you're here?"

"Well Zack and I are having lunch tomorrow. The only other ones left were the rest of my team and I see them all the time." Jason said, lying as he tried to casually brush it off as nothing.

"In that case I'm glad you guys ended the night early and you could come see me." Emily didn't know what she would think had Jason left all his friends for her. Well she did know. She would think that he was actually interested in her, the way she found herself interested in him. After all the rangers were his closest friends, his family, and for him to ditch them for her meant that he would care more about her than he let on. In a way she was disappointed. She was always looking for signs that he wanted to be more than just friends.

Jason took a swig of his beer and smiled over at her. "So how did you spend your Saturday night?" She smiled at him as she thought for a moment, and as she was preparing an answer a noise broke through on the other side of the bar, one that was quickly approaching them. Jason snapped his head in the direction of the incoming noise and froze.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Carri yelled as she and Kim came storming in their direction. They entered the bar and glanced over at the bar area first and were more than a little surprised to see what company Jason was keeping. "You've been acting all weird lately and you left the hotel room for her?" She said pointing a finger at Emily. At the moment she couldn't decide which one of the duo she wanted to yell at first.

"I cannot believe you." Kim chimed in as assorted emotions came floating to the surface. She felt like an idiot for worrying about him. She was pissed that she had tried to set him up with someone while he was running around with Emily. "Out of all the horrible things we thought you were doing to yourself in here this is definitely the worst."

As they approached Jason and Emily the duo stood with Emily making sure to take a few steps behind Jason to avoid any of the oncoming wrath. "What the hell are you doing here?" Jason asked, a bit defensive and a bit angry. They had to have followed him there. He didn't know why they would, or why they felt the need to.

"Because we were worried. The not acting interested in women is one thing, then you run off tonight and dammit we're your friends and we thought you were an alcoholic or out picking up whores or"

Carri snorted and interrupted Kim's rant. "Haven't you noticed he is out picking up whores."

"Hey!" Emily exclaimed jumping to her own defense. Although she couldn't blame them. She hadn't spoken to them since before Jason caught her with Aaron. As far as they were concerned he was her man on the side and who knows how many other guys they think she's screwed around with. Now she knew why Jason was really adamant about not letting the two of them know they were hanging out again. He said they'd freak. That's an understatement.

"Enough!" Jason barked as all eyes in the bar were concentrated on them. He hardened his eyes and glared from one of his girls to the other as they did the same.

Emily felt like slinking away. Jason's hard eyes were nothing compared to the icy look Carri was giving or the fiery one from Kim. In fact if she looked hard enough she could almost swear that Kim's eyes were actually glowing a little red. She took a step back as Jason stepped forward, grabbing them both and pulling them toward the front door of the bar. She watched as they both protested all the way to the door, and then they disappeared.

Kim glared at Jason as soon as the bar entrance shut behind them. "You owe us an explanation."

"I do not have to tell you everything I do with my personal life." Jason replied gruffly crossing his arms over his chest.

"First off, we never keep secrets." Carri was quick to point out. "And second, if that bitch is involved you should've told us."

Jason grunted. "You know what, fine, we'll talk in the morning." He said as he turned to go back into the bar.

"Not good enough." Kim said sharply stopping him. Jason spun back around and Kim continued. "You can talk now."

Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If this wasn't the absolute last thing he wanted. But he knew them well, and he knew that if he didn't oblige they wouldn't let him continue on his night anyway. "Fine. Let me go back in and say goodnight to Emily and I'll meet you at my house."

"Fine." Kim said as Carri eyed him down. They watched as Jason shook his head and entered the bar. "I can't believe." Kim muttered shaking her own head as the duo walked around to the back of the bar.

"Let's just go see what bullshit he thinks he's going to spin to get away with this." Carri grumbled. Jason was lucky she didn't kick the crap out of Emily for old time's sake and him for just being stupid.

Kim snorted as she crossed her arms over her chest. A red light grew from within her and as it engulfed her she disappeared. Carri simply shook her head. "I guess I'm going the old fashioned way." She said as she lifted up her communicator and hit a button, yellow lights surrounding her as she disappeared.

* * *

Jason climbed onto the back of his motorcycle and started it up, slowly pulling it out of its parking space and driving home. Emily was disappointed that the beer was cancelled, but he was pretty sure she was too in shock to go back and enjoy it anyway. Hell he was a bit in shock. Not by their reaction, that he was expecting. But at the fact that they found out in the first place. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. They were smart and they would eventually suspect something was up.

He couldn't be angry at their reactions after what happened the last time he dated Emily. Even though they weren't dating in the girls eyes him spending time with her was bad enough. Now it was up to him to explain things to them, to make them understand how and why he forgave her, how they can be friends. He promised Emily he'd get them to not hate her. After all, they only hated her because of him. And if he wasn't angry anymore they shouldn't be either.

The scenery flew by in a blur as Jason flew down the streets of Angel Grove, his mind going at a hundred miles per hour. Should he have told them? Yes. There was no doubt that they'd still have a bad reaction but he doubted it would be anything like what he's seeing now. It was all a mess but it was his mess and it was up to him to deal with it.

As the thoughts raced around he found himself pulling into his driveway. Taking a moment to prepare himself for the assault he was going to receive the moment he entered the house he slowly took off his helmet and put it on the back of the bike. He strode up the walkway and unlocked the front door, shutting it quickly behind him before making his way into the living room. Not surprisingly he found the two girls sitting, fuming, on the couch.

It only took a few seconds for them to jump up and start in on him once he was in their line of sight. After a few minutes of them harassing him he held both of his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Stop!" he barked as he approached them. He'd have to give them credit, they immediately silenced. "Let's discuss this like calm, rational adults."

"Calm, rational adults?" Kim questioned raising her eyebrow. "You're the one who has been sneaking around with Emily like a teenager."

"The only reason I wasn't open about my hanging out with her was because I knew how you two would react." Jason pointed out, giving a stern look from one girl to the other.

"Gee what made you think that way?" Carri asked, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Could it be the way she treated you like trash the last time you were together? Or how about the fact that Kim and I spent hours and hours consoling you after she cheated on you."

"Hours." Kim chimed in as Carri reached over and smacked Jason upside the head. Jason flinched and Kim looked over at her friend who simply shrugged. To be honest Kim was thinking about the same thing. "Let's not forget all the phone calls and letters from her that we intercepted for you. We helped you get rid of a woman who treated you like shit and then you get back together with her and if that's not bad enough you don't tell us. How could you?"

"First off, we're not back together we're just friends." Jason said as Carri snorted and Kim crossed her arms over her chest. "Second off, we've talked and I forgave her and…. Christ Carri knock it off." He growled as she whacked him on the back of the head once more.

"Well someone needs to knock some sense into you." She was quick to point out as Kim readily agreed.

"Will you too just listen to me for one minute." Jason said as he took a deep breath to keep from starting an all out war.

"Fine." Kim said as Carri grumbled a similar response of her own.

"Sit." Jason ordered. Although they muttered a few less than pleasant words under their breath both girls sat down on the couch. Jason sat down on the coffee table so he could be in between both of them and face them. "Let's start from the beginning. You remember when we were in K's universe and her Emily kissed me?"

Kim and Carri nodded, they remembered it well. They were also both well aware that despite what Jason said it was hard for him to see her again, feel her touch again. It didn't take a genius to know there was much more to her presence than what Jason tried to lead them to believe.

Jason took a deep breath then continued. "Seeing her… despite what she did to me all I could do was think about her. Eventually I had to look her up. I wanted to see her, I don't know, maybe seeing her would have pushed her out of my thoughts. I drove by her work – a lot – which probably wasn't the best idea. Eventually she caught me. I didn't know what to do or say, I didn't know if I could talk to her even, I was still hurt."

There was a silence as Jason thought for a moment and Kim encouraged him to continue. "Obviously something changed."

"We agreed to meet for dinner and drinks. She explained everything to me." Jason said glancing at the girls and trying to engage their reactions. Both seemed to have gone down from nuclear but both were still angry. "Look, I'm not going to make excuses for her, but we were both so busy that neither of us was ever around. She was lonely. And one night when her lab partner came over to study, one thing lead to another and that's when I caught her. It only happened that one time and she admits to her mistake and she's genuinely sorry. I feel like after all these years I can finally forgive her."

"Ok." Carri said giving him a little nod. She wasn't going to like it. She still didn't approve of her cheating one time or not. She certainly understood being lonely. That was how she ended up dating Zhane once upon a time. But if Jason had forgiven her she'd respect that. She was still pissed he didn't tell them but she would try and respect that decision.

"Really? You mean that's it?" Jason said, not quite ready to believe that he'd get off the hook that easily.

"For now." Kim said evenly, glancing at Carri who nodded. "We'll accept that you've forgiven her. If you're ready to do it that it's your choice. I'm mad you didn't tell us, so you owe us for that one. Just don't start dating her again. At least not without consulting with us first."

"No, no. We're not dating. We're just friends." He tried to assure them. The girls quickly picked up on the fact that he wasn't quite as sure about that as he thought he was.

"Just friends huh?" Carri asked raising an eyebrow. "Why sound so disappointed?"

"I'm not disappointed. I, well, I mean, I just." Jason stopped and put his head down. He hadn't admitted this to anyone, not aloud. He had been squashing his feelings for a long time. He still didn't know if he was ready to try again with her. With a sigh he looked up at the two girls sitting in front of him. "Seeing her, she's so beautiful, the way she walks, the way she smiles… I still love her. I just don't know if I can trust her that way again. Honestly, I don't know what to do." He looked at the two of them, feeling somewhat relieved at finally getting that off his chest. Now he remembered why he usually told them everything.

Kim and Carri glanced at each other before looking back at their conflicted friend. After all these years she had turned him into a mess, again. Much like the last time they would help him through it. Without saying a word they both grabbed their phones and took off to alert the others that they wouldn't be making it back to the reunion. It was going to be a long night.


	21. Spirits Return

**Disclaimer: **Power Rangers related stuff still belongs to Disney, anyhing involving Thomas, the DG or K belongs to KSuzie, everything else belongs to me.  
**Author's Notes: **This chapter is based on a lot of the universe that KSuzie has created in her fic, "The Coin Series". I have given a brief explaination of who Thomas is and what the DG is. If you haven't read "The Coin Series" and you are completely lost feel free to pass along any questions and I will try my best to get them answered. Or check out "The Coin Seires" as they are KSuzie's concepts and she does a much better job making them make sense than I do lol.  
This will be the last chapter of the this year as the Chrismas and New Year's holiday's are coming up and I will be very busy. January is going to start a busier schedule for me but I hope to at least continue on the pace of one chapter a month, with the next new chapter of Legacy appearing from the middle - the end of January.  
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Spirits Return"

It was a rather chilly evening in early October as the rangers were running around doing their tasks. They were so involved in what they were doing that none of them noticed they were being watched. Or at least that one of them was being watched.

The person doing the watching was Thomas, an older man who didn't belong to this world. He didn't belong to any world really; he hadn't in a long time. Not since he lost everything as his home world became a dark dimension. He supposed he was lucky that the dimensional guardians, or DG as some referred to them, had saved him. At the time all he wanted was revenge against Kemora for destroying everything as his losses sat heavily on his heart. They wanted him to work for them, they considered him to be an asset.

He agreed to work for them, that's how he got to where he is now. He worked for the group that was responsible for making sure dimensions ended up where they were supposed to go. He couldn't affect outcomes; just make sure green worlds progressed correctly toward good while blue worlds progressed toward becoming evil. The primary task, the task that he and K worked on, was Kemora. Not destroying her, although that thought was never far from his mind, but repairing the timelines she had destroyed. If there was one thing Kemora was good at, it was ruining the correct progression of a world.

Kemora was what brought him here, what gave him his current task. He hadn't been in this dimension long, and he had just spotted the female ranger he was looking for. She was approaching one of her teammates and that bothered Thomas a bit. He'd have to be careful in doing what he was going to do, but barring any unforeseen circumstances he was certain he could accomplish his task without involving the others. Even if they noticed her disappear they would simply assume that she did it on her own free will.

His task was something he really didn't want to do, but the DG was pretty insistent that this was the path they wanted to go down. It started with the news that Kemora's spirit was gaining strength. She had broken the plain into another dimension, and there was no doubt that she would connect with its Kimberly. She would certainly ruin a green world as well as destroy countless timelines on other worlds once she regained her full powers.

It was a task that needed handling, and the DG was pretty instant on taking care of it quickly. Although they initially wanted to use K, she was quite busy running Primus's errands and as Kemora wasn't at full strength yet they didn't feel as though they needed to pull her away from Primus for this task. The young one was brought up, but Thomas suggested and the DG agreed that she was too young, too underdeveloped even for an easier battle against Kemora. There was a high risk for her failure and Thomas was unwilling to chance it.

That's why she was chosen. He and K had both hoped that for her sake, the DG would take a while to notice her altered signatures. But her powers grew quickly and it didn't take long for the DG to realize what she was. They thought she was the perfect candidate for this task. She'd fought and beaten Kemora multiple times. She already had training from Dulcea before she'd gotten her powers. Because of that, her powers were growing quickly and the DG was anxious to see what she could do. If she was ready, she could work for them and they could give her simpler tasks to complete as her powers continued to grow. The DG was hopeful that she and the young one would grow to be useful, and by useful what they meant was they wanted them to learn to obey commands and follow rules, and not develop the same tendencies that K has.

Agree or disagree with the DG, that's why Thomas was here. He didn't want to be, he was quite conflicted about bringing her in. After all, he already had two he was grooming. But they didn't really give him a choice in the matter and he didn't have anything solid to argue. As she grew near he prepared himself to carry out the DG's orders.

* * *

Carri found herself separated from her teammates in a forested area in search of, well, something. Billy said it had something to do with something he was working on and somewhere in the technical mumbo jumbo she was lost. But like the rest of the team she took a scanner and was sent out. The one point of Billy's speech she did understand was that the quickest way to find whatever Billy was looking for was to give them each a scanner and have them spread out throughout the forest.

"This is just great." She muttered to no one in particular as she dredged through the forest. She was hot, sweaty and tired and had no luck at all finding Billy's mystery component. Why it was out here in the first place she didn't understand either. She was hoping that soon one of the others would page her and say that the scavenger hunt was over. The mound of papers she was complaining about sifting through earlier seemed like a much better task than the one she was charged with now.

Pushing a branch out of the way and moving forward, Carri suddenly found herself face to face with a rather large spider. She squealed and used the scanner to reach out and push it to the floor, then proceeded to scream obscenities at it as it scurried away for safety. Carri puffed out a few agitated breaths as she tried to calm down.

"Carri?" a voice called out through the trees. "Are you ok?"

Carri turned, somewhat surprised to see Kim making her way toward her. Of course she really had no idea where anyone ended up or which way anyone was walking so she supposed she shouldn't be too surprised. "Yeah." She said gruffly as Kim grew near. "Just a spider."

Kim let out a laugh as she slowed her pace and fell in line next to her friend. "One of the fiercest rangers I know and yet you fall prey to a little spider."

"Spiders can kill you, you know." Carri said crossing her arms over her chest as the two girls continued walking. "I've seen Arachnophobia."

"I really don't think you have to worry too much about killer spiders out here." Kim replied with a roll of her eyes. Carri simply huffed in response.

Kim laughed and Carri decided it was past time to change the subject. "You find anything?"

"Nah." Kim replied. In all honesty, she wasn't completely sure what they were searching for either. She definitely wasn't as clueless to Billy's techno speak as she was fifteen years ago, but with all her experience even she didn't understand every word that came out of his mouth. From everyone's earlier reaction, Tommy was the only one who had some sort of idea. "Maybe the boys did."

"Do we even know what areas we've searched?" Carri said, thinking for a minute as she looked down at her scanner. "I mean, I feel like I've been all over this place and my little thingie hasn't even beeped once."

Kim nodded. A beep would indicate that they were at least getting close, and her scanner hadn't beeped either. "But Billy said it's out here. I'm beginning to wonder if we're searching for a needle in a haystack.

"I never liked that phrase." Carri said absentmindedly.

"What phrase?" Kim questioned, momentarily forgetting what she said.

"Searching for a needle in a haystack."

Kim raised an eyebrow and looked at her. This ought to be good.

"I mean one would have to be bored out of their wits and have absolutely no life to actually search for a needle in a haystack. And if one were to be dumb enough to accidentally drop a needle they needed into a haystack, they could save a whole lot of time by just going and getting another needle. Problem solved. No reason to search for a needle in a haystack." Carri finished her rant.

Kim shook her head. Obviously her friend had thought about this more than once. "What about those who only have one needle and can't afford to purchase another one?"

"They're going to be regretting dropping the needle in the first place." Carri replied matter-of-factly.

"So you're saying that the unique piece of equipment that somehow ended up here, or the needle, should be abandoned because it got dropped into the forest, or the haystack, even though we had nothing to do with it?" Kim said giving her a questioning look.

Carri heard the seriousness of the question but she couldn't help but notice the amusement in her friend's eyes. "All I'm saying is that if you're going to feel compelled to do the search you need a giant metal detector, not a bunch of people sifting through stuff with a small one." She finished her nonsensical rant by holding up the hand held search device. "And why are we talking about this anyway? This is stupid."

"You're the one who brought it up." Kim was quick to point out.

Carri grinned wickedly at her. "And you're the one who said searching for a needle in a haystack."

"Fine. I just won't talk to you anymore. Solves that problem." Kim said as she went back to concentrating on the scanner in her hands, pointedly avoiding any eye contact with Carri.

"Please. That's going to last all of five minutes." Carri said with a snort. The way they gossiped and chattered she doubted it would even last that long.

"Probably." Kim replied.

Carri smirked. "That was more like five seconds."

"Yup." She said, looking up at her and smiling. "And now I think we should refocus on the task at hand."

"Do you think we should regroup? Figure out who has gone where. See if anyone's getting close. As much as I love wondering aimlessly through the forest, it would be more fun to see what areas still need to be searched so we can find this thing and I can get back to work." Carri said as her eyes were on her scanner as well.

"I didn't know anyone who was excited to work late." Kim commented. It was only a Wednesday evening, but for Carri this week's work had started immediately after their reunion on Saturday when she had to take care of some things for their Nepal shoot and it had only gotten busier from there.

"Thrilled." Carri said dryly. She had some things that had to be taken care of by the following morning otherwise she would've called it a night by now. She couldn't wait for Saturday so she could finally relax again.

"Anyway." Kim said, switching back to the task at hand. The boys would kill them if they saw how out of focus they were getting. But it was getting dark and they'd been out there for a while with no results, they couldn't help but get a little off task. "We should probably get up with Billy, see if he wants to halt it again until tomorrow evening. Soon we're not going to be able to see and even with flashlights I doubt we'll be able to maneuver around everything."

Carri ducked around another branch and started to stand. "I'm all for" She stopped suddenly to squeal once again as another spider found its way into her path. After knocking this one down it ran toward her, and she cursed and jumped behind Kim, grabbing her shoulders and ducking as if she wanted her friend to protect her.

Kim was poised and ready to say something, but as Carri grabbed onto her shoulders a red light formed around them and they disappeared.

* * *

The light faded as both girls found themselves standing in the living room of a well lit house. They blinked a few times, adjusting their eyes to the light as they looked around. It only took a few minutes to realize they recognized the house. It was the house Carri temporarily resided in during high school, the one belonging to her aunt and uncle.

"What the hell?" Carri said looking around, hoping that her aunt and uncle weren't around to wonder how they deposited themselves in the middle of their living room. "Did you do this?" she asked glancing at her friend. It certainly had the markings of Kim's powers.

"No I didn't do this. Why would I take us here?" Kim asked, her answer showing more confidence than she felt. Honestly she wasn't sure. She really didn't think she was responsible for their teleportation. Although the red light made her wonder if it was a powers mishap. It would certainly be an odd mishap. She hadn't had a serious mishap since she sneezed herself all over the timeline. But then again even with her last mishap she felt her powers at work. Although it looked like her handiwork, she didn't feel her powers taking over.

"Ok." Carri said slowly as her mind worked quickly to process the situation. "If it's not you, who would be able to mimic your powers and bring us here?"

"I don't know. Rhianna maybe. Or Callisto." Kim doubted Callisto had the powers to pull something of that nature off, but she could certainly be pulling the strings with Rhianna. Rhianna had the potential to be a great sorceress, she could figure out how to teleport them and make it look like Kim did it.

"If it's a Callisto trick why take us here?" Carri said as she thought about it. "Unless…. What if Kat's here? What if she brought the baby over to spend time with her parents?"

"Why would Callisto bring us here to see Kat?" Kim questioned, not quite sure where her friend was going with this.

Carri spoke quickly as she rambled out her theory. "She and Kat have a history. She's been wanting her to be her evil sidekick for years. What if she got to her. Or kidnapped the baby to groom to be evil and killed Kat. And wants us here to witness what she's done and taunt us because it's too late."

"It's possible." Kim said as she thought about it. It was a long shot but she wouldn't put it past the goddess. "We should split up, search the house."

"Right." Carri agreed as she turned and tore up the stairs, calling out her cousin's name. She stuck her head into the master bedroom and peaked into the bath. Satisfied, she looked in Kat's room. She was startled at first, it looked the same as it did in high school and she was almost positive Kat had changed it since then. As Kat wasn't there she shook off the odd feeling and went to check her old room. Opening that door she realized that they apparently had a new house guest and that the décor had completely changed into something she wouldn't touch. With a shrug she went on to check the guest room and the bonus room. Satisfied that Kat wasn't there, she headed back down and met up with Kim.

"If Kat has been here and Callisto did get to her, she left no evidence." Kim said as she glanced around the house, still puzzled by their appearance there.

Carri shook her head. "If it was something Callisto did she'd leave us a giant note, make sure to take the credit."

"I agree." Kim said simply as she thought. She was clueless as to where to go from there. "So if it wasn't me, and it wasn't Callisto, where does that leave us?"

"I don't know." Carri said, placing her hands on her hips as she continued to think it over. As they stood there thinking the door opened. Both girls froze until they realized it was Rocky walking in. Carri glanced at him for a moment before she commented.

"That didn't take long. I'm surprised you all even noticed we were missing considering we were separated and searching for our needle in a haystack." Carri said as she rolled her eyes at her own use of the phrase.

Kim snorted as Carri approached Rocky. Her amusement with Carri's use of the phrase faded away as she looked at Rocky. Something wasn't right. She watched as Carri reached out to touch him and he quickly jumped back and got defensive. Carri looked hurt but the more Kim studied him the more she thought she realized what the problem was.

"Take a good look at him." Kim suggested as Rocky glanced from one woman to the other, the look on his face showing his confusion.

Carri stepped back, looking Rocky up and down. Finally she sighed. He looked just like the boy she dated in high school. "Crap. Are we in the past?"

"I don't know." Kim said as she considered all the different scenarios. "It's possible we're in an alternate dimension."

"What's going on here?" Rocky asked as he looked at his team's former pink ranger. He was more than a little confused. He hadn't seen her in a year and although she still looked good, she definitely looked a lot older. "I thought you were supposed to be in Florida. What are you doing here? And who's she?"

"Well…" Kim let her voice trail off as she wondered exactly how she was going to answer all of this teenager's questions. She noticed the communicator on his wrist and decided to give an explanation a shot. "We're rangers. From our world. And we're not exactly sure what we're doing here either."

Rocky looked from one woman to the other. "How do I know I can believe you?" He asked. Rangers from another world seemed kind of farfetched to him. They could just as easily be some sort of trick orchestrated by Mondo.

"We have Ninjetti powers. We could show you." Carri quickly suggested, hoping that Ninjetti powers were as universal as they seemed to be. As Rocky was wearing blue she assumed he was a Zeo ranger. And if he was a Zeo, then he would've already gone through having Ninjetti powers.

"What are Ninjetti powers?" Rocky asked, his confusion not lost on the girls.

Kim frowned. They obviously hadn't seen Dulcea yet, if they were going to see her at all. There was one thing that was universal in the Power Rangers timeline, and that's how they started. "We have power coins."

Kim and Carri quickly produced their power coins and held their hands out for Rocky to inspect them. He cautiously walked toward them as he looked them over. They looked almost identical to their old coins except for one detail. "Why do your coins have animals on them?"

Kim wasn't sure how much she should tell him so she simplified her explanation. "It's where we draw our powers from." She said. She wasn't sure if he bought it. "Every world develops differently. Our powers are a little different than yours."

"Maybe we should go to the Power Chamber." Rocky suggested. If he teleported them in with him and they were evil they'd be kicked out before they ever made it into the main room. And if they were good, Zordon could help them figure everything out.

"Good idea." Carri said quickly, figuring any information they could gather would more than likely start there.

"Ok." Rocky said, still unconvinced this was best. But that was the decision he had reached and he was going to follow it through. He walked toward the duo and the girls each grabbed an arm as he teleported them off.

* * *

The rangers teleported into the Power Chamber. As the teleportation beams dissolved and the girls got a good look at where they were standing, both were flooded by memories of their youth.

"Hello rangers." A booming voice said from behind them.

Carri and Kim spun around to see Zordon suspended in his tube, much like he was when they were teenagers. Carri gasped and Kim grabbed her hand. "Zordon." Kim said in a whisper as she tried to push her tears back. The last thing she expected when she woke up that morning was to see her former mentor again. He was like a father figure to her and she still missed him. Even though this wasn't their Zordon it still meant something to her.

Zordon looked at the two girls standing in front of him. Both were rangers holding multiple powers, he could sense that immediately. He also sensed Kimberly's Muirantian powers. She was allowed into the Power Chamber and she was a ranger which led him to believe that she was not corrupted by the evil of the pit.

He looked from one of the women to the other and noticed how both were surprised to see him and a little touched. He assumed that in their world Zordon sacrificed himself to save the greater good. He knew he had the power to do it, and that it might come to that one day.

Rocky crossed his arms and leaned against the console as he watched the two women's reaction. "Why are you so surprised to see Zordon?"

Carri took a deep breath and turned around, answering the question while Kim composed herself. "Our Zordon, well, he went home to Eltar years ago and we haven't seen him since."

"You can't just go there or send a message?" Rocky asked, eyebrow raised.

"It doesn't work like that." Carri said, hoping that particular line of questioning would stop.

From behind the console Billy glanced over at the two women. It was certainly possible to contact Eltar, it was even possible to go there. But maybe they couldn't on their world. Or maybe there was more that they weren't telling them. His curiosity made him inclined to probe but he was able to reason against it. If they weren't saying then obviously it was something the younger rangers need not know.

Rocky didn't quite understand how it worked like that but he let it slide. Besides that wasn't what he was really interested in. "Zordon, are we sure they are who they say they are? And how can we help them get home or whatever?"

Zordon smiled at his ranger. He was appreciative of his concern. "They both have held multiple morphers. I can sense the power running through them." He answered Rocky's first question.

Kim smiled at Zordon. It had been so long she had almost forgotten what kind of powers he had. It made her wish that her Zordon was still alive, that she could ask him questions and seek guidance with her own powers. Dulcea was a good mentor, but it would be nice to be able to receive assistance from Zordon.

"I am unsure how to get them home or why they are here in the first place. It is something we will have to look into." Zordon continued on, answering Rocky's second question.

Kim was ready to say something to that regard when the Power Chambers sensors went off. The room shifted into ranger mode as Zordon spoke. "It appears as though Mondo has sent a monster down to the surface with Cogs. We will alert the other rangers. Rocky, you go ahead."

"Right." Rocky said giving his mentor a nod as he snapped up. "It's morphin time! Zeo ranger three, blue!"

Billy and Alpha immediately went to contacting the others. Zordon looked at the two female rangers and spoke. "You may watch the rangers battle on the screen."

They nodded and turned to view the action. Four of the Zeo rangers were fighting the monster and the Cogs. Carri snickered as she realized just who the monster was. "Leaky faucet." She said with a smile. It brought back memories of being Zeo two, fighting against the Machine Empire and that particular creation several times.

As the girls watched they realized that this team's own yellow Zeo wasn't out on the battlefield. "Where's your yellow ranger?" Kim asked, relatively surprised that she wasn't out on the battlefield yet.

"We have attempted to contact her." Billy said. It was bothering him as well. "It appears as though she disappeared from the Hillard household around the same time you appeared."

Carri raised an eyebrow and looked over at Kim. This whole thing keeps getting stranger. She turned back to the fight and she and Kim continued to watch. Much to Carri's surprise, they were taking quite a beating from Leaky Faucet. He was annoying, but he was simpler than most and it didn't make sense to her. "Why are the Zeo's getting beat so badly?" She asked aloud. Kim shot her a look. She wasn't sure if that was a good question to ask.

"The Zeo rangers need all five members to be able to defeat Mondo's monsters. Without the yellow ranger, the others will struggle against Leaky Faucet." Zordon said. He understood her surprise. There were ranger teams out there that functioned superbly individually. And although the members of his team were good fighters individually, to take out the monsters they needed all five of them.

Carri snorted. She and her team had taken on monsters one on one when she was younger. Kim shot her an even dirtier look and Carri rolled her eyes. She thought for a moment before sighing. "Let me go help them. Your yellow ranger is probably gone because of us. They need a fifth ranger and I've fought Leaky Faucet a hundred times."

"I am not sure that is wise. I do not want you to interfere with our timeline." Zordon said. He understood why she wanted to do it, but he didn't feel as though it was the best idea.

Carri started to protest but Kim held her hand up. She had an idea of what to say for her to win this conversation. "I understand your concern. But it is possible that your timeline has been interfered with starting with the disappearance of your ranger. Perhaps your ranger is supposed to be here fighting this battle. Because of us, she is not. By your team losing a battle they should have easily won, we will be interfering with your timeline."

Zordon thought long and hard about what Kimberly was saying. It was certainly possible that she was right. It may be in their best interest to let the other ranger help. "You may assist our team."

"Alright I'm on it." Carri said reaching back and grabbing her power coin.

"Wait!" Billy exclaimed, trying to stop her before she morphed.

Carri turned back and looked at him curiously. "What?"

"Part of their morphing grid is infected." Kim said simply as all eyes turned toward her. "It will strip any coin that tries to draw powers on this world."

"How did you know that?" Billy asked. He was more than a little surprised. It wasn't like they had a sign posted in the Power Chamber. It had been hard to lose their coins like that. Rita and Zedd's magic infected the grid. They went to morph against one of their monsters and their coins were lifeless, and because of their connection to them they even started to drain the ranger's energy. Billy had been the guinea pig, working hard to save the team while the Aquitarian Rangers came to protect Earth. Some of his experiments cost him dearly. He'd never be able to be a ranger again. But he did save the others, and when they were fully recovered they were able to go off in search of shards of the Zeo Crystal. They still hadn't figured out how to purge that part of the grid but they had contained the infection so that other teams could still use the morphing grid.

"I could feel it." Kim replied. It was an odd explanation for the young ranger, she was aware of that. She probably should have let him fill Carri in. Her excitement at being that connected to the grid overwhelmed her which is why she felt compelled to share what she knew.

"Whatever." Carri said with a shrug. She was always amazed to see how Kim's powers were developing and she couldn't believe she could feel the grid. Quickly she moved past that and got ready to go help the others. "It's on to plan B. Planetary rangers power up!" And with that, the white planetary ranger headed out to the battle.

* * *

Carri hit the ground in the middle of the action and those on the battlefield both good and evil turned to stare at her. She simply grinned behind her helmet. "I hear you need help giving this bucket of bolts a good ass kicking."

Leaky Faucet was surprised by the cocky newcomer, and wasted no time shooting water at her. She stepped out of the way and shook her head. "You'll have to do much better than that."

"Cogs!" Leaky Faucet yelled, watching as a group of the warriors ran toward her leaving him to fight the Zeo rangers.

"This ought to be easy." Carri said as they attacked. One by one she flung them out of the way. It reminded her of the exercises she used to do on the simudeck. She faced tengas and cogs, all the old armies that were easy enough to beat on her own. It gave her a workout and kept her skills sharp.

She looked around once during the fight and realized that Mondo was sending more Cogs down to attack her. Not wanting to waste any more time on the Cog army, Carri called for her lance. Using her weapon made it go faster, but there were still more of them coming. Frustrated Carri used her powers to cause lightning bolts to come down from the sky.

The Cogs directly surrounding her were struck with lightning and short-circuited. As Carri watched them fidget and fall to the ground, she snorted. "Damn this would've been helpful ten years ago."

The remaining Cogs stood strong and Carri simply rolled her eyes and prepared to attack. Before she even got a chance to finish them off, a black and gold streak ran through them and as the Gold Ranger materialized he went to stand in front of her. "Are you alright?"

"I was handling it. But thank you Trey." She said, not realizing she called the Gold Ranger by his name until it was too late. She hoped the others new his identity.

Trey wasn't sure what shocked him more. That the ranger standing in front of him knew his name or that this ranger was carrying Planetary powers. He didn't know any of the planetary morphers were in use, let alone on Earth. "How did you know my name?"

Carri cringed. "I'm not from this dimension." She said figuring it was best to be honest. "But don't worry, for the sake of this dimension's timeline your secret is safe with me."

Trey didn't know what she meant by that or what was going on, but if she said she wasn't going to tell this world's rangers about him he'd have to trust her. "We need to assist the others."

"I agree." Carri said as they both turned their attention to Leaky Faucet. "We'll start with a little lightning." She said as she caused a bolt to flash down from the sky. As it hit Leaky Faucet, Trey ran in with a gold rush.

The four Zeo rangers were stunned. They had two new rangers running around and they both had just hit Leaky Faucet harder than any of the attacks they had tried to hit him with. "Who are you guys?" Tommy asked as Carri approached the group.

"That's gold ranger, and I'm white ranger." She said simply. She wasn't going to reveal Trey's identity and she didn't want to get into who she was until after Leaky Faucet was dealt with. Tommy was ready to protest the lack of information but Carri continued. "Look it doesn't matter who we are. We're allies. And we're here to help you send this idiot back to the scrap heap."

"Ok." Tommy replied with a nod, ignoring the million and one questions that were running through his mind.

"Gold ranger and I can give this guy a few good hits if you want to nab the zeo cannon and take him out." Carri said giving her lance a twirl.

"I don't know if we can use it without our last Zeo." Tommy replied. It was a good idea, but one he wasn't sure was going to work.

Carri simply shook her head. She didn't know what kind of world this was, but it was obviously one where ranger teams functioned quite differently. "Look I've got yellow zeo running through my veins. I can probably fill in." Although she seriously doubted that there were any residual effects of the yellow Zeo crystal present in her with all the other morphers she's held since then, she didn't think it would make a difference.

"We'll give that a shot." Tommy said. He hoped she was right, that she could substitute for their missing ranger.

"Hey gold ranger!" Carri hollered out to Trey. "Can you provide us with a distraction?"

"Easy enough." Trey replied. As he went to attack Leaky Faucet, the monster spewed water at him, knocking him back. He then quickly turned the water on the other rangers, causing them to scatter.

"Any more ideas?" Adam asked as he and Carri found themselves hiding behind a boulder.

Carri thought for a moment as she glanced around, her eyes finally settling on a decent sized rock. "Just one." She replied. She stood in a crouched position, waiting until Leaky Faucet looked away before grabbing the rock and using it to plug the water.

Leaky Faucet tried to frantically unclog himself but before he got a chance Trey was all over him. Carri ran out and regrouped with the rest of the zeo team. "We need the Zeo Cannon now!" Tommy cried out.

The cannon fell into the five ranger's hands and Carri found herself with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu as they yelled fire. Leaky Faucet went down into a blast of metallic pieces, but it wasn't long before Klank and Orbus were there to revive them. All six rangers stood and watched as Leaky Faucet grew to city wrecking size.

"We need Zeo Zord power, now!" Tommy was quick to yell as the four rangers jumped into their zords.

Carri and Trey took a step back to watch the action. "If the rangers do not need my assistance I will be taking off. I trust that you will keep my identity a secret as I will keep yours." Trey said glancing over at her. He assumed that by her introducing herself as the white ranger that she had no plans on revealing who she was either.

"No arguments here. I plan on being home shortly and forgetting this whole thing ever happened." She said, sighing as she thought about home. It was going to be a really long day as by the time she sorted through this mess and got home, she still had work to do.

As they watched they noticed how Zeo two's zord was pulling sluggishly. Carri was about to comment when Kim's voice came through her helmet. "Billy is having trouble with the zord. He wants to know if you can pilot it."

"Just like riding a bicycle." Carri commented.

"I didn't think you liked those little sayings." Kim teased as her friend leaped on top of the zord.

"Just needle in a haystack." Carri reminded her as she climbed into the zord's cockpit. She sat in front of the controls and a few moments later she was ready to go. "Alright let's bring this bad boy together and show Leaky Faucet a thing or two." She said as she prepared the zord for Megazord mode.

The zords combined as Leaky Faucet taunted them. The megazord stood strong as it pulled out its saber, using it to quickly bring Leaky Faucet down for good. With the monster gone the group of rangers headed to the Power Chamber.

* * *

"Zordon, what's going on, where's Kendall?" Kat asked the moment they arrived in the Power Chamber. She was more than a little concerned that her cousin wasn't out on the battlefield with them.

"Ask these two." Rocky said, gesturing to Kim and a still morphed white ranger.

The Zeo team turned in time to see the white ranger power down. While Kat gaped at the white ranger Tommy turned his focus toward her accomplice. "Kim? What are you doing here I thought you were in Florida?"

Kim held up a hand to stop the teenaged Tommy from coming over and sweeping her into a hug. "I'm not your Kim." She said evenly.

Tommy stopped in his tracks. He looked Kim over. She certainly looked like his Kim. Only older than his Kim. "What do you mean you're not my Kim."

"We don't belong to your world." Kim said trying to figure out how to explain it best. "We are rangers from another dimension. We seemed to have ended up here accidentally."

"Carri? You're a ranger?" Kat asked, unable to get over the fact that her other cousin was a ranger on any world.

"In my world." She replied with a smile. She didn't know who she was to Kat but obviously she wasn't someone that she would think of as ranger material. She couldn't help but wonder if she lived in New York. The her that she masqueraded as in New York definitely wouldn't be mistaken for a ranger.

"You're just too… I mean…. You're a mousey cheerleader, you live in high society…. I mean I love my cousin but I just can't see any version of her as ranger material." Kat said. She was quite confused and she was certain that this Carri led a completely different life from the one she knew.

Carri took a few deep, forced breaths and Kim shot her a dirty look. She knew where her friend was going. Kat had insulted her, and in Carri's mind she probably just added it to the list of reasons why she was mad at her Kat. But she didn't know herself here and she couldn't take out her aggression on the wrong Kat.

"A double in an alternate universe doesn't necessarily share the same traits as that person in your universe." Carri left out the parts where she spent three years as a cheerleader and she lived in high society. And Zordon obviously saw her as ranger material, along with the powers that be as she was chosen as the White Planetary Ranger. That in itself should speak volumes. Granted she didn't know this Carri, perhaps she did fall into the high society pack with no interest in any of the things that made her who she was. But that didn't give Kat the right to discount every alternate.

"Whatever." Kat said simply. She didn't get it and she wasn't going to argue it. "That still doesn't explain what happened to Kendall."

"Kendall as in cousin Kendall?" Carri asked, eyebrow raised. She was hoping the answer was no. If anyone didn't qualify as ranger material, it was her.

Kat nodded. "Yes, she's the yellow ranger. And she's missing."

Before Carri could jump in with a comment Kim interjected. "I have a theory on that." She said as all eyes focused on her. "I think when we arrived, Kendall sort of switched places with us."

"Great maybe she can find our needle in a haystack." Carri said, intending to irk Kim a little. Despite the fact that this wasn't her Kendall she found herself somewhat pleased and the prospect of her wandering through the woods.

Kim's lips curled up briefly as she glanced over at Carri before turning back toward the younger rangers. "If that's the case it shouldn't be a problem for me to take us home and return her."

"Great, so let's take care of this." Tommy said as the leader in him came out.

"I'm not sure that's wise to do yet." Kim said. As soon as she spoke several members of the team were inclined to protest but she held her hand up and cut them off. "We don't know how this happened in the first place. If we were brought here for a specific purpose and we leave we may be leaving this world at risk, endangering your lives and your future."

As she paused Zordon looked down at her. He could tell that she had been through a lot, that she knew a lot as a ranger. What she knew specifically about interdimensional travel he wasn't sure. She didn't sound like she knew the specifics, but she was good at what she did know and she knew how to incorporate instinct and knowledge into situations.

Kim looked the team over before continuing. "As for your yellow ranger, I have no doubts that our team will look after her until we can return her to you, assuming that's where she went. If that's not where she went, we'll find out once we find out why we're here." She was pretty sure that if Kendall was dumped in the middle of the forest, it wouldn't have taken Billy long to detect the odd zeo signatures that would have suddenly appeared on the grid. Although if things worked out like she hoped they would, that wouldn't even be an issue.

Tommy absorbed the words of the older Kimberly. He wasn't sure what he thought of what she was saying, or if he agreed with what he was saying. Before making a judgment of his own he turned toward his mentor. "Zordon, is this the best course of action?"

"I agree with Kimberly." Zordon said as he looked his conflicted leader over. "We must figure out what brought them here before we can allow them to return home."

"So now what?" Adam asked looking at the two older rangers.

"We need to find a place to go where nobody is going to be suspicious of us." Kim said. It wasn't like they could stay over at anyone's house. Kat's parents would easily pick up on Carri not being Carri, while anyone else they could stay with would find it odd that Kim had aged so much since she'd been gone.

"Maybe you guys could stay in a hotel or something." Rocky suggested.

Kim shook her head. "No, for that we'd need money, an adult ID, neither of which we have here."

Carri cleared her throat and Kim looked over at her. With a smile Carri reached into her back pocket and produced a wad of cash. "I had lunch with Mr. I'm so conflicted over what to do about Emily today." She explained. Not feeling like carrying much of anything, Carri had taken out of her office with only her keys, ID and cash. She didn't even take her phone. She was tired of work calls and just wanted an hour of peace and quiet. She smiled before she continued. "We can probably forge an ID no problem."

Although forging an ID could cause trouble, they were short on options and if they stayed at a cheap enough hotel they wouldn't confirm the ID. "Alright. It's the best we've got." Kim agreed to the idea.

"Great. So let's get this show on the road." Carri said with a grin. One by one the rangers teleported out of the Power Chamber to get things situated so they could figure out exactly what was going on.

* * *

An hour later Kim and Carri met the rangers at a burger joint on the outskirts of town, somewhere there was no chance of Kim being recognized. They weren't sure about having dinner with the other rangers, but the team was pretty insistent on it. They figured it was more curiosity than anything. Besides they needed to eat dinner and they might learn something about why they were there by eating it with the other rangers.

After they were all seated and their orders taken, the rangers immediately started chattering. The young ones wanted to know everything, wanted to share everything, and Kim and Carri simply let them control the chatter as they tried to smile and nod and answer as vaguely as they could when they were asked questions.

"It must be weird sitting here with younger versions of the rangers you know back home. In fact this whole thing must be weird. It's certainly weird for us." Tommy started up the conversation.

"It's not the first time we've been put in an awkward situation." Carri said simply, recalling all the different alternate worlds she had visited.

"Would it hurt to tell you about ourselves?" Adam asked, not sure what one was allowed to discuss with rangers from another dimension.

Carri looked at Kim who shrugged. "I don't see why not. I can't imagine you would have too much influence on our lives." Kim said. They had been there, done that, and were wise enough to know that these were their friends of a much different time.

"None of us have been on the team since the beginning." Tommy was the first of the group to speak. "I joined at the start of my freshman year as the green ranger. That was right before the others came along."

"Midway through freshman year Rocky, Aisha and I were transferred in. We took over for Zack, Trini and Jason when they left." Adam informed them. They looked at him and nodded, and Adam could tell that something similar happened on their world.

"I moved here last summer. Before we started our sophomore year." Kat supplied, smiling over at the two newcomers. "I took Kim's place right at the start of the year after she went to Florida for gymnastics. Then Kendall came to live with me and took Aisha's place halfway through the year when her family moved. That was a month or two before our coins were infected. We were zeo's the rest of sophomore year and I imagine we'll start out junior year the same."

"That sounds similar to the way our world unfolded." Kim said. Although there certainly were similarities, there were a lot of differences as well. But Kim didn't see how it would help them at all to point those out.

"So you went to Florida to train too?" Tommy asked, eager to ask this Kim questions. It may not be his Kim, but she was still a ranger and still a Kim and that was good enough.

"Yes I did." Kim said evenly, smiling at the younger Tommy. It was odd to see him obviously drooling over her. She'd forgotten what the younger Tommy's affections were like. Nowadays, although anyone who knew the duo knew they were together, he tried to remain more reserved, more of the ranger master that every team after them knew him to be, and saved most of his longing for her for behind closed doors.

"So did you and me, I mean your Tommy, did you guys do alright while you were gone?" He was anxious; he missed his Kim very much. She promised to try and come home over the holidays but she had to back out. Now she swears she's going to make it home over the summer but there's no guarantee about that either. He loved her but it was hard to have a long distance relationship.

The letter Kim wrote as a young girl slammed to the front of her mind and danced around, haunting her, reminding her of stupid decisions she made in her youth. She had to try to push those thoughts away to answer Tommy's question diplomatically. "It is wonderful that you are dating your Kim. However you have to remember that I am not your Kim, and everything from whether or not I had a relationship with Tommy to what I may or may not have done in Florida is different. And for your sake, I can't tell you anything."

Carri smirked. She certainly remembered the letter, the agony that her Tommy went through when Kim had dumped him. It was hard for Tommy to make it through those times. But luckily for him Kat was there to help him through it and he eventually started to return her affections. If she hadn't helped him through his broken heart she doubted he would have been able to be friends with Kim when she came to visit. Carri snorted aloud as she realized Kim may actually owe her second chance with Tommy to Kat.

Kat found herself focusing on Tommy's reaction. He was sad, he wanted to talk about Kim. It drove her crazy sometimes. She was so into him but other than her being a ranger she was almost positive he was oblivious to her. As Carri snorted she shook those thoughts away and changed the subject. "Tommy's not the only one with a ranger girlfriend." She was actually quite pleased that Kendall had gotten so close to the ranger team and found a boyfriend. They were kind of distant with her until she joined the team and then she started getting along with everybody.

"Yeah." Rocky chimed in. "Kendall and I have been going out for a few months now." He added. It was nice, Kendall was fun. Sometimes he found himself unsure about their relationship. But she was a ranger and Kat's cousin and she was pretty.

Tommy and Adam didn't find those good enough reasons to date her. Neither of them were too thrilled with her before she became a ranger and they firmly believed Aisha picked her because she already knew the team, not because she'd make a good ranger. She hung out with them a lot because she was Kat's cousin, and spent a lot of her time throwing herself on Rocky. When they started dating after she became a ranger, Tommy and Adam argued that it was a one sided relationship and Rocky continued to point out it was just new and they were getting used to each other and that things would change. He was still waiting to see if he was right.

"Oh." Carri said sharply, thinking about how Kendall all but threw herself on her fiancé in the hospital. Kim kicked her sharply in the shin, knocking all those thoughts back for the moment. "Good for you." She added with a forced smile.

The waitress came back by and dropped their food on the table, grabbing up empty glasses and going to refill them with soda. The group started to eat and the waitress returned with their drinks. Chewing and sipping were the only things heard until Kat spoke. "What about you two? Seeing anybody?"

Kim and Carri were surprised by the questions about their lives, although they supposed they shouldn't have been. "Yes we're both seeing people." Kim replied, answering without giving too much away.

"Are they other rangers?" Kat questioned, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't." Carri said with a smile. "We're happy to answer questions but we can't promise that the answers will be what you're looking for."

Kat nodded as she studied this version of her cousin carefully. There were some similarities and a lot of differences between her and the Carri she knew. As she looked at her closely something caught her attention. "You're getting married!" she exclaimed giddily.

Carri blinked and looked at her oddly for a second before realizing how she knew. "Yeah. Next summer."

"Who's the lucky guy?" Kat questioned, not thinking about how she couldn't really answer that question.

"Someone I met in high school." Carri replied. It was true, and it was the best answer she could give.

"David?" Kat squeaked as Carri choked on her food. Kim snickered and Kat continued. "I know you can't tell me. But you guys broke up and Aunt Becky said he was trying to win you back and I bet he did. That would be so amazing. I'll bet I'm thrilled. I'm sure I'm your maid of honor."

To Kim's credit, she was holding in her response, even her facial expressions. Carri was taking a few deep breaths. It was hard enough to separate her Kat from this world's younger Kat, and if Kim were to laugh at the situation she had a feeling Carri might just go off.

"Kat is excited." Carri said evenly. Running into a Kat on another world was not something she wanted to do, especially after all the ups and downs she and her Kat had recently.

Rocky noticed everyone's reactions and was a bit curious by them. There was something up between this Carri and her Kat but he couldn't quite put the finger on it. He decided the best thing he could do to change the odd feeling at the table was change subjects. "So what do you guys do for a living?" He asked as he worked to scarf down the rest of his food. He and Adam were going to have to leave shortly, but he wanted to make the most of this conversation. He found Kat's other cousin pretty and kind of interesting and he wanted to hear what she had to say.

Kim thought for a moment. She didn't suppose giving them a little tidbit of her life would be too bad. After all, Kim herself wasn't around to hear it. "I'm in marketing."

"I work for my father." Carri added in. She certainly didn't want to go into details of her company or how she got it or anything like that.

"You're an actress?" Kat said. She was somewhat surprised. Although with her father's insistence Carri had taken acting classes, she didn't think she was actually inclined to follow that one through.

Carri let out a little laugh. "Something like that." She said, noticing the smirk on Kim's face.

Kat continued to let her curiosity get the best of her. She couldn't quite pin this Carri down and it bugged her. She decided she had to ask the question that had been nipping at her the last few hours. "So how did you get tapped to be a ranger?"

"I was living with you at the time and the girl who I took over for chose me, and Zordon agreed." Carri said. She glanced at Kat and she wasn't sure she satisfied her with that explanation. "I had fought Mondo's forces without powers. I had taken karate, so I guess it helped. I guess they could tell by the way I handled them I'd make a good ranger."

Rocky smiled as he took ten dollars out of his pocket and laid it on the table. It was cool that she had taken karate. "I had to cut this short, but Adam and I have to run."

Adam finished shoving the last of his food into his mouth before pulling out his own money. "Yeah, if we don't hurry we'll be late meeting the others."

"What others?" Kat asked out of curiosity.

"The baseball team. We promised we'd meet some of the guys at the batting cages tonight for practice. We're working on making varsity next year. We want to bring the team to the state championships." Rocky filled her in.

"That brings back memories." Carri said absentmindedly as she thought about her days as a high school pitcher. Kim kicked her and Carri snapped back into the moment.

"You watched your friends play baseball? Go to state?" Adam asked. He hoped the answer was she watched the other rangers win the state title.

"Well…" Carri said dragging it out. She sighed. Could it really hurt anything? This Carri was nowhere around and she was much too old to influence her about baseball now. "I pitched some. In high school."

"Really?" Rocky asked getting excited as she nodded. "Were you any good?"

Carri laughed. "You could say that."

"Come on, we've got to go." Adam said grabbing his friend by the arm and leading him out of the restaurant.

Rocky stared at the table as Adam was dragging him out. This girl was much too old for him and he didn't know Kat's real cousin. But she was pretty, she seemed as though she was a really good ranger, and she liked karate and baseball. If he didn't know better he'd hunt down the real Carri Hillard. But he'd have no idea what to expect from her, and besides, he had a girlfriend. So for now he'd just settle with his teenaged crush on an older woman.

He shook women out of his thoughts as Adam led them to his mom's borrowed car. Moments later the duo were settled in and speeding off in the direction of the batting cages.

* * *

Kim and Carri arrived in their hotel room late that night. They had been going nonstop for a long time, and both were hoping that crashing for a few hours would give them the focus they needed to figure out what was going on.

They had done everything in their power and they were clueless. Dinner with the team didn't provide any answers. Although the rangers were interesting and brought back memories of their youth, they didn't say anything that might be a clue as to why they were there. After dinner, they left and spent several hours working with Zordon and Alpha in the Power Chamber.

Zordon himself had no idea, although the fact that someone may have tried to manipulate Kim into thinking she used her powers worried him. There were very few beings in the galaxy with the ability to pull that off and not many of them would have good intentions. He couldn't begin to reason why anyone would send either of them here.

Kim was baffled. They were meant to do something. Or not do something, it was impossible to say for sure. She was almost positive it had to do with this world. Anyone who knew her well enough to know of her powers would know that she could just take them back to the moment they left, no harm no foul. It wouldn't affect their world so it had to affect this one.

She and Carri exhausted every possible resource. They went through Power Chamber records, talked to all of Zordon's galactic contacts. Nowhere did they come across anything about a rising threat to Earth or to the power. It was frustrating but they could only assume that whatever the reason they were here, it hadn't happened yet. They had alerts set up throughout the galaxy looking for disturbances, and now they were going back to the hotel to play the wait and see game.

"I don't think I have to say this, but I don't like this at all." Carri commented as she plopped on top of the comforter and laid her head on the pillows.

"Me either." Kim replied as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "But what choice do we have? We have to figure out what's going on. For us, for them, for who knows what else."

"Let's assume that a villain tried to mimic your powers and bring us here, or at least bring you here." Carri started. "And for whatever reason they wanted Kendall gone. That would have to be a damn smart villain. We're talking someone with a lot of power, a lot of magical power. Someone who knows a lot about your Muirantian powers. The list is short and Zordon's right, if it's a bad guy they definitely don't have good intentions and I'm not too anxious to see what they are."

"If it's a villain why? What are they doing and what do they want with us?" Kim asked. She couldn't imagine a villain bringing them here and leaving them to stew this long without giving them some sort of clue. "What if it's someone on our side? Who wants us to help with something?"

"And what? They send us an invitation but don't bother telling us what it's for? No one Zordon knows has any clue. If it was the good guys you'd think they'd have spelled it out by now." Carri pointed out. As weird as the villain idea seemed, to her the good guy theory was much odder.

"I don't know." Kim said. Not having any idea bothered her but there wasn't anything she could do about it. "We're just going to have to wait and see what happens."

"What about the boys?" Carri asked, referencing the three male rangers on their team. "Should you hop back and tell them what's going on?"

"I don't think it's necessary." Kim replied. Carri propped herself up on her elbows and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "In theory I'll be able to get us back home within moments of our departure, and if Kendall's there I'll grab her and return her before there's even a blip on the radar. They'll never know."

"Then it's back to running around that damn forest with those scanners." Carri grumbled with a sigh. She thought about it for a moment before she continued. "So if nobody figures out we're missing, should we tell them everything?"

"I don't know. It depends on what happens. If it doesn't affect them we can just consider it another mission." Kim replied, referencing all the missions she and Carri ran as planetary rangers. "We were called to duty, we saved the world, and they don't need to worry about it."

"I know that's right." Carri said with a chuckle. She knew Rocky and Tommy would have a fit if they knew the girls had been swept away by someone unknown to take care of an unknown mission on another dimension.

"Then we're in agreement. Depending on what this turns out to be we'll just run the mission and get home right when we left as if nothing ever happened." Kim replied. Whether or not it was a good idea as a girlfriend it may be the best idea as a ranger and that's what counted. If they fixed this issue the others didn't need to know about their activities.

"Agreed." Carri said, flopping back down on the bed.

Kim reached over and turned off the lamp that sat between them before lying down on the bed herself. She saw shadows of Carri throwing her clothes off and worming her way under the covers as she went to do the same. She doubted either of them would get any real sleep, but even a little bit of rest would help whatever they had to face tomorrow.

* * *

A young Kimberly Hart was sitting on a plane as it taxied to its gate in Angel Grove's airport. She was glad to be returning here, glad to be home. It had been almost a year since she was last in California and she missed it all. She missed the rangers, her friends, and especially Tommy.

It was why she was coming back. She was going to surprise everyone. She knew they'd be thrilled to see her. They'd be shocked when she gave them her news. But the decision was hers and hers alone and she was going to stand by it. She loved gymnastics, and she loved being able to train in Florida, but it just wasn't for her.

Everything was so different this past year. She had gotten a private tutor that she spent a few hours each weekday with. The rest of her time was spent practicing. There were no malls, no dates, no lounging with friends. Nothing that Kim enjoyed doing in Angel Grove she did in Florida besides gymnastics. There was simply no time. She'd hardly been able to even call anybody back in Angel Grove, let alone think about visiting she'd been so busy training.

Kim sighed as she stood in her seat and squeezed out into the aisle with the other passengers. They shuffled slowly toward the exit and as Kim broke free she headed down to wait for her luggage. She had brought everything she owned with her back to Angel Grove. After all, that was what one tended to do when they weren't going back somewhere. It was something she had thought about for a long time, and although she enjoyed gymnastics she wasn't willing to give up everything she had in Angel Grove any longer.

Her coach was disappointed; he had recruited her and brought her there to make her a star Pan Global athlete. But he let her go. He knew that if she didn't want to be there she'd never be able to put the effort into gymnastics that was needed to qualify for the Pan Globals. Her mother was the most disappointed. Kim had a feeling that it had nothing to do with her quitting gymnastics and more to do with the fact that her mother was firmly rooted at an art gallery in Paris, and had been almost since the moment she arrived in Miami.

Her parents discussed it, and by discussed Kim assumed they meant argued about it, and Kim would return to Angel Grove to live with her father. Her father loved her but she doubted he was thrilled to have her living with him again. After all, when they divorced he had no objection to sending her off to be in her mother's care. It would be different, he lived in Stone Canyon and although he was close to Angel Grove they had to fight to get her enrolled in Angel Grove High. But she would attend her junior year there and she'd be able to hang out with her friends and boyfriend and do all the other things she missed so dearly. And her dad had already promised that once she passed her driver's test he'd get her a used car. That would certainly help things.

Kim approached the baggage claim just as the light went off and suitcases started spewing out. She crossed her arms over her chest as she went to wait for her two pieces of luggage. Despite everything, it was just nice being back in Angel Grove.

Her two suitcases appeared rather quickly. The first one pulled near and Kim reached out and grabbed it. As she did she felt a chill form around her. It felt odd and out of place but she tried to shake it off as she grabbed her second piece of luggage. She pulled the handles up and started to wheel them away and that's when she felt the chill again.

The sensation got stronger and stronger, and then she felt something entering her body. She gasped, and tried to scream, but whatever it was, was taking her over. Her actions were no longer hers. She started to panic as she willed herself to move, to do anything to keep from whatever was happening to her from happening. She felt herself being pushed farther back and knew there was nothing she could do and then she felt it. She had been silenced.

The body that had belonged to Kim smiled. The body now belonged to Kemora, who found this conquest rather easy. This girl hardly fought at all as she took her over. She wasn't even strong enough yet to take her over with as much force as she used to. Sure the girl screamed and protested, but this Kim was too weak to do much else.

Although she was weaker, she'd do. Kemora could still get her powers back to full strength inside this girl's body. It was just nice to have a body. Now she could start to plan her revenge. She could play around in this world for a while but she had a goal in mind. She wanted to get back to the pit.

Her powers would replenish themselves eventually, but the quickest and easiest way to do it would be to reconnect with the pit that gave her all her evil abilities in the first place. Then she could go after those who pissed her off the most. Starting with K. It was her fault she was lost everything in the first place. K had to get involved, had to get other rangers involved. She banished her from Muiranthias but she'd get back there.

It was going to take a lot of planning on her part and probably more time than she wanted to put into it, but she'd get back to Muiranthias. She would need help though, ranger help. As much as she'd like to just rip those goodie two shoes apart, since she wasn't at full strength she would need access to their base and their powers in order to help herself and get back to Muiranthias. Being in the body of the Kimberly of this world, she should be able to gain access to this world's center of command. Its sensors would more than likely pick up on Kim's latent signatures that they were used to reading before it noticed the demon Kemora, as long as she didn't use her powers to get in. By the time they realized what she was, it would be too late. As much as she didn't want to, she knew she'd have to continue on to Angel Grove and pretend that nothing was wrong. It was the only way to gain access. The rangers would have no idea what was about to hit them. She would be sweet and innocent Kimberly until she got what she wanted, and then she would destroy them all on her way to restoring her full power.

* * *

Thomas stood in the shadows as he watched Kemora capture the young Kimberly's body. Now was the time to do something about it while she was still weak. It was finally time to tell the truth. He didn't want to risk it before, telling her that something might happen and her not agreeing to help. But now she'd have no choice. Kemora was there and preparing to wreak havoc on this and every other world she touched. He imagined she'd be inclined to help, after all chances were good that she'd remember her and come after her world and her friends.

Thomas took himself to the girl's hotel room, where after a night of barely sleeping they were both up and dressed. They took defensive stances as they glanced and him and he greeted them with a simple hello.

Kim didn't know what to think. If Thomas was involved it would probably explain how they got into this situation to begin with. She didn't know much of him, only the little bits and pieces that K had time to share with her. She wasn't even sure if she could trust him. K had her reasons for trusting him but it was obvious that K's Jason was weary of him and her Tommy didn't trust him for anything. "What are you doing here?" she asked, wanting to get right to the point.

"Do you remember when Kemora was banished during the final battle on K's home world?" Thomas asked. If they wanted to get right to the point he would. He waited for a second as the girls both nodded their heads yes. "She has broken into the plane of this world and managed to take over its Kimberly. She plans on returning to full strength and going on another rampage."

Thomas paused for a second, letting them both absorb that information before turning to face Kimberly. "The dimensional guardians need you to banish Kemora. That's why they had me bring you here. And since you now have Muirantian powers, you are expected to work for them."

"Wait a second." Carri said sharply, causing Thomas to turn toward her. "You just rip us out of home dimension and expect us to be all happy go lucky when you need us to help? I don't think so."

"You weren't supposed to be here. This was her mission. Your being here is why the yellow ranger of this world is on your home planet and why you arrived in the Hillard's living room. You threw off the balance of the magic I was using. It was only meant to teleport one person." Thomas said evenly. The dimensional guardians were not pleased by Carri's accidental transport, but as she had proven useful to K in the past they assumed that she'd probably be able to help this Kimberly.

Carri grunted and muttered a smart ass remark about her involvement and Thomas glared at her. "The dimensional guardians did not mean for you to be involved in this at all. They are quite happy that you do not exist in every dimension."

Carri shut up for a moment while she thought about a good retort, but Kim spoke and Thomas's attention immediately shifted back to her. "Back up a minute. They want me to work for them? Absolutely not. That's K's job, not mine, and I will not have my life consumed by the dimensional guardians." Kim said as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Thomas. "I will help this time, only because I've met these rangers and I don't want to leave them at Kemora's will. But if you ever pull a stunt like that again I won't hesitate to simply teleport myself back home."

Thomas nodded as he mulled over her response. He was slightly pleased that she didn't want anything to do with the kind of life the dimensional guardians wanted her to lead. But he knew where defiance got you. He knew where it got K. The years that she spent in a suspended state conscious yet paralyzed while going through torturous things that no human would survive…. Her torment at the hands of the dimensional guardians weighed heavily on him and he had no desire to witness another Kimberly go through the same thing.

He looked over at her and locked his eyes with hers as he started to speak. "You are very powerful, and your Muirantian powers will grow into something far more than what you can even imagine. You have the capability to do powerful things for any side you chose and the dimensional guardians are well aware of that. They will want to control your power. If they can't, they will kill you and there is nothing I or anyone else can do for you." K was of value to the continuum, it was the only reason she was allowed to live. This girl did not have that luxury. "I will leave you with that to think about for the next time the dimensional guardians tell you that you are going to help."

Giving her advice was the extent of what he could do to help her. Perhaps that wasn't all he could do. Regardless of how this battle turned out he could buy her some time. He would return to the DG and tell him that although her powers were developing, she simply wasn't strong enough to work for them full time yet. It would give her a chance to get her head on straight the next time the DG came to seek her services. Hopefully when she was brought in front of them she wouldn't be inclined to be that defiant. They would not be pleased.

Kim nodded. She understood what he was saying but she didn't want to live her life at the call of the dimensional guardians. She didn't know what she was going to do about them, but she certainly got the gist of what she couldn't do. "I will take your words under advisement." Kim said simply. "As for Kemora, don't worry, I'll figure out what to do with her."

"I'm sure you will." Thomas replied. "I am unable to assist you but I will be watching. I hope for your sake and for that of the other dimensions that your powers will prove themselves quite useful." With that Thomas disappeared, leaving the two girls in the hotel room together.

"That's just great." Carri grumbled. "Like I really want to deal with Kemora of all people." Most people didn't have to deal with anyone of her caliber in their lifetimes. Carri had more encounters with the demon spawn than she'd care to discuss.

"We have no choice. She's here and we have to stop her. She'll torment this world, our world, go back to K's world…. It's much simpler to stop her now." Kim said as she started to push any thoughts of the dimensional guardians away for the moment and started to work on ideas. There had to be something she'd learned that would prove itself useful.

"I personally would like to kick the bitch back into oblivion. But since that wouldn't work, and you're the one with comparable powers that the dimensional guardians are after, what have you got?" Carri asked. Kemora was much like Callisto. Fighting them was a challenge. Defeating them was near impossible. And although Carri had a lot of tactics, if anyone could actually defeat Kemora it would be the one whose powers were born from the same source.

"I may have an idea." Kim said as she continued to think it over. There was something she had discussed with Dulcea. They were having a conversation about possessions, and more specifically Kemora. She had been concerned that she'd escape from K's world, and after a night of vivid dreams where Kemora destroyed everything near and dear to hear, she had asked her mentor for suggestions on how to stop her. Dulcea had an idea, but Kim would need to go speak with her in order to follow it through. "I'm going to need to go check on something. Can you keep an eye on the kids?"

"Yes sir." Carri replied with a mock salute. She watched as Kim used her powers and disappeared, then got up and went in search of the rangers.

* * *

Kim arrived on the rocky beaches of Phaedos. She'd been there so many times that she almost had the terrain memorized. She was back in her home dimension in her time, only not on her planet. She had no plans in going to Earth, only in seeing Dulcea to get the information she needed then leaving. She was bending time; she would be existing in this dimension in two places simultaneously. When she finished this mission she would teleport herself and Carri back to Earth at the same time she arrived on Phaedos. She would be at home on Earth while her hours younger self would be on Phaedos.

It was a weird thought, it always had been. It had come to her mind several times when she had been training on other worlds, that her life would be carrying on in Angel Grove while she was out training and that nobody would know the difference. Well she supposed people did know. The dimensional guardians certainly knew what she was capable of even if they weren't aware of exactly what it was she was doing. Thomas probably had an idea of what she was doing.

As she maneuvered through Phaedos, she had to wonder if that was how she got on their radar. Teleporting herself as her powers grew. It certainly got her on the radar of those good and evil. She had been spotted multiple times in her home dimension while training, no matter how much she tried to keep herself hidden. It was why more recently she'd travelled to the farthest reaches of the galaxy to train, to places where there wasn't much life around to recognize her.

She shook her head and willed all her thoughts to disappear. She was on a mission, an important mission. And although she planned on returning close to her departure time, she still didn't want to lose focus. She had to talk to Dulcea and return quickly. The fate of more than one world depended on it.

Trekking across the planet's surface, she made her way to the small training grounds that Dulcea spent most of her day at. Dulcea was nowhere to be found, but it wasn't long before a white owl flew overhead. As it hit the ground it transformed and her mentor was standing in front of her.

"Kimberly, it is good to see you." Dulcea greeted. "Are you here for more lessons?" She asked with a smile. Kim was well aware that she'd already told her that she had taught her all she knew, that it was up to her to learn the rest. More than likely she was simply here for guidance. As of late Kim had been there several times to seek her advice.

Kim smiled and shook her head. "No, I realize you are out of lessons." She replied. It was a joke between the two of them. Dulcea could show her no more where her powers were concerned, only guide her. The smile faded and a somber look took her over. "I wish I was here for something as simple as my own powers."

"Is something wrong?" Dulcea questioned. Kimberly rarely got that look on her face and when she did it was never good.

"I'm afraid so." Kim replied, pausing before she launched into her story. "Kemora has returned. She's on another world, she has taken over its Kimberly. She's weakened from her last attacks but we have to banish her quickly before she starts another rampage."

"And you feel as though I would be of assistance?" Dulcea asked curiously. She was unsure why her protégé would have returned to Phaedos for this matter. She wasn't sure how to guide her against Kemora and she was unable to leave the planet to offer aide in battle.

"Sort of." Kim offered lamely. "It's what we discussed before. How to banish a spirit. I need your help seeking it out."

Although Kim didn't offer specifics on what she wanted Dulcea knew exactly what she was talking about. "I can point you in the right direction but your powers are the only thing that will find it."

"I understand." Kim replied. "I can find it. I have to, I can't let Kemora roam free."

"We must move quickly." Dulcea replied in agreement. She had never personally encountered the demon spawn but she knew enough of her from Zordon. She knew that the best way to stop her was to keep her out of a body. If she'd already taken over a Kim, they wouldn't have much time before she figured out how to get to full strength again.

"Thank you." Kim replied. Dulcea walked quickly and passed by Kim as the ranger fell in line behind her mentor. She hoped that this would be easy and that she'd be able to destroy Kemora in no time.

* * *

Carri found herself meeting the other rangers at the Angel Grove Youth Center that morning. She wasn't sure this was a good idea. But the others assured her that this world's Carri had never been to the Youth Center and that nobody would recognize her. And they were clear that it was where they were going to be, and if she wanted to visit with them she'd have to be there too.

As she arrived she found the four members of the ranger team sitting at a table. It certainly brought back memories of her high school days. The inside of their Youth Center was set up very similarly to the one she remembered. Briefly she glanced at the bar and the sparring mats as she walked over and had a seat.

"Good morning everyone." She greeted with a smile. If she was going to be babysitting, she may as well put on a happy face.

"Hey Carri." Rocky replied, returning her smile with one of his own. Although he missed his girlfriend, he was excited to see Carri again today.

"Where's Kim this morning?" Tommy asked. He was still unsure why she was unable to make it. Carri had been very vague on the phone.

"We've figured out why we're here." Carri said simply. The rangers looked at her, each of them expecting an answer. "I can't explain just yet," she started not ready to go into an in depth explanation of Kemora at the moment, "but Kim thinks she knows how to fix this situation and get us home and Kendall returned."

"That's great I can't wait for Kendall to get back home." Kat replied excitedly. It was weird not having her cousin in the room next to hers the night before.

"You will let us know what's going on right?" Tommy asked, not appreciating being left out of the conversation.

"When the time comes." Carri said evenly. She was pretty sure they'd have to eventually tell them about Kemora. But not yet. Not until Kim came home with their answer. There was no point just yet in having them fret about a teammate who was on the other side of the country. Especially Tommy.

"How was your hotel?" Adam asked changing the subject. He wanted to know too, but it was obvious that Carri was in no mood to share.

"About as good as expected." Carri said with a smile. "We didn't sleep very well anyway so I suppose it didn't matter."

"I hate when I don't get any sleep." Rocky complained in an attempt to be sympathetic.

"It happens. Part of the job I suppose." Carri replied. Lying in her own bed she'd sleep forever if she could. But the years she spent in space came with a lot of ranger related sleep deprivation and as much as she didn't like it, she was used to it.

Rocky assumed she meant part of the ranger job and he couldn't help but probe. "So you've been on a lot of adventures?"

"Yeah, you could"

Before Carri got a chance to finish her sentence, Tommy jumped out of his seat. "Kim!" He exclaimed, running over to give her a hug.

Carri glanced back as the other rangers jumped up and she saw them rush to greet the younger Kim. "Crap." She said, suddenly wishing she'd told them about Kemora. As it was too late to backtrack she knew she'd have to figure out how to get them out of this situation.

"It's good to see you." Kemora said as she halfheartedly returned his hug. Kat was standing beside him smiling and she couldn't decide if Tommy was with Kat or if Tommy was with Kim. Either way it didn't matter, they were all going to die.

She looked around at what she assumed were members of the ranger team as Adam, Kat and Rocky all greeted her. Taking a few minutes to pretend to care, Kemora returned the greeting then allowed herself to be led over toward their table. She sat down next to Tommy and glanced up, her eyes immediately locking with Carri's.

"Who's this?" Kemora asked curiously. Although she couldn't help but feel as though she knew this Carri already.

"Carri." She said quickly as she stuck her hand out. She didn't want to give the team a chance to explain why she was here. Kemora would most certainly realize she was seeking her out if she knew she was from another dimension on a mission. "I'm a friend of the team." She added.

"Nice to meet you." Kemora replied as she took Carri's hand. "I'm Kim."

Every bone in Carri's body screamed jump up and run as she saw the red hint in Kim's eyes. She wasn't one hundred percent certain but she could almost guarantee that this was Kemora. Hanging out with her was probably not a good idea. But she was obviously pretending to be Kim and perhaps there was a chance that she could figure something out about what she wanted if she let this play out.

"So, Kim, what are you doing in Angel Grove?" Carri asked casually.

"I just moved back home actually." Kemora said with a smile. "I missed my friends and family. I couldn't stay in Florida any longer."

Carri was the only one who picked up on the tone in the voice and the wickedness behind her smile. The others were simply thrilled to hear the news. "Kim that's great!" Tommy exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're home. But what about the Pan Globals?"

"Those were stupid." Kemora said. No matter what world she was on Kim was an idiot for taking off with Florida and leaving Tommy to fall in love with the blonde bimbo.

"I'm sorry you quit. You were so good at gymnastics." Kat said, extending her arm out and placing her hand on top of Kim's.

"Of course you would say that." Kemora said, allowing some of her bitterness to come through. She couldn't help but wonder if she had wormed her way in with Tommy while this Kim was gone.

The rangers weren't sure what to make of Kim's comment but Carri knew exactly what she meant. She locked eyes with her and Kemora gave her a sticky sweet smile. She was starting to get just as suspicious of Carri as Carri was of her. She was much too old to be Kat's cousin of this world. Something was strange. She decided that whoever this was would figure her out and that it was time to move quickly.

"I meant, you know, you did encourage me to go." Kemora clarified her last statement as Kat smiled and nodded at her. "Anyway, I miss everyone so much. Especially Alpha and Zordon. It has been such a long time since I've seen them."

Carri had a feeling she knew exactly what she was doing. Trying to get an invite to the Power Chamber. She didn't know what for, but if she could get in she'd have access to enough to wreak plenty of havoc. "Excuse me for a second." Carri said as she abruptly stood and made her way over to the lockers. She was going to have to come up with something good in order to get them away from Kemora and keep the demon out of the Power chamber.

As she stood out of sight of the others her mind raced while she worked to find a solution. Finally it hit her. Standing straight she marched out toward the table. "Guys we need to go. It's an emergency."

"Great you can come too." Tommy said glancing over at Kemora before turning toward Carri. "We were just reminiscing about Alpha and Zordon. I'm sure they'd love to see her."

"That's cool I'd love to go." Kemora chimed in doing her best to use a Kim like attitude.

"It's not a typical emergency." Carri assured them before leaning in and lowering her voice. "It's not safe for anyone without powers."

"I'm a former ranger. I can handle it." Kemora replied. She was going to get herself into the Power Chamber if it was the last thing she did.

"She's right, I'm sure it will be ok." Tommy assured her. He couldn't imagine what in the world would be so serious that his girlfriend, a former ranger, couldn't pop in with them.

Carri put a hard smile on her face as she spoke. "Maybe later. She really shouldn't go right now, it's not safe." She stood straight up and looked at the four rangers sitting around the table. "Now the five of us have to go. We'll come back for Kim later."

The rangers were confused, something was definitely wrong here. They weren't sure if it was Carri's behavior that was off or if there was really some sort of serious concern in the Power Chamber. Either way, they had to find out. "Ok." Tommy said oddly as he stood. "We'll be back." He promised, leaning down to give Kemora a kiss on the cheek.

Kemora watched as the four rangers walked off. She glanced at Carri briefly before the older woman followed her. She must know who she was. It was the only reason for her insistence that she be left behind. Which meant she wasn't going to let the rangers take her to the Power Chamber. The only shot she had was catching a ride.

Moving swiftly Kemora jumped up and ran in the direction of the rangers. She figured she had a few seconds at best if she was going to grab on to one of them. As she arrived in their teleportation spot, she realized she was just in time to see the remainder of the multicolored streaks fly through the air. "Dammit." She swore aloud. Carri must have rushed them off.

This called for an entirely new strategy. If Carri knew who she was, all bets were off. She'd tell the rangers and there was no way they would willingly let her teleport in and use their equipment. Her powers were already strengthening; she could feel them grow inside this body. She could simply wait it out, but that was never any fun. There were other methods. She wasn't sure if she had enough power at her disposal yet to create her putties. But she did know she had enough power to convince whoever was trying to take over Earth to help.

It wasn't what she wanted, but it would do. She'd seek out whatever nitwit's help that was attacking Earth. Then she'd go after the rangers. Hopefully she'd destroy them and have free reign of their equipment. If not, her powers would come back full force soon and she'd kill them all and take herself wherever she wanted. Either way, she'd win.

* * *

The rangers arrived at the Power Chamber and Tommy was quick to note that there was absolutely nothing going on. "What was that all about?" He questioned angrily, turning toward Carri. "Why were you being so cruel toward Kim?"

Carri stared at him for a moment. The Tommy of her world had always been their no-nonsense leader. Now his tone frightened those who didn't know him well and even Carri steered clear of him when he was in high and mighty red ranger mode. But the attitude in the younger Tommy amused her more than anything. She tried to let that slide as she went to answer his question. "That's not Kim." She said simply, the look in the younger Tommy's eyes one of disbelief. "Not technically anyway. She's been taken over by Kemora."

"Kemora is here?" Zordon questioned with alarm. He'd heard of the demon before but knew little about her, only that she brought death and destruction with her to every world she touched.

"Who is Kemora?" Rocky piped up from the back. Zordon rarely worried about much but he seemed more concerned than usual over the mention of the name Kemora.

"Long story short, Kemora was born Kimberly Hart. This Kim was dropped into the pit on Muiranthias and it made her evil. And once she was evil she took out some built up anger on the Kat and Tommy of her world. Eventually Kemora was killed, or at least Kim was." Carri paused as all attention was focused on her. It was a tough story to tell and she was intentionally leaving out some of the specifics. She wasn't sure how much she should tell them about Kat and Tommy's relationship as a factor in the story since it was obvious that they didn't have that kind of relationship here. The last thing she wanted to do was influence something that was not meant to be.

Taking a deep breath she continued her story. "Kemora, her essence, her powers, left the body of a dying Kimberly Hart. What was left of Kim, the goodness, the memories, was allowed to die in the company of whatever friends and family that Kemora hadn't killed." She paused as that sank in. "Her spirit is immortal, so from there it crossed dimensions, finding another Kim of another world and taking her body over. With a fresh body she could start over. She was killing Tommy's and Kat's of all sorts of dimensions, getting to the point where she just didn't care specifically anymore and started killing everyone as it suited her. She was developing her own powers, sealing others powers. As long as she has a body, her powers are full force."

"So this Kemora has come here and is tricking us into thinking she's are Kim?" Adam asked in an attempt to make the situation make sense.

"Not quite." Carri replied. This was the part of the story they really weren't going to like. "Kemora doesn't do well with the bodies. Depending on the strength and power of the Kim, she can only use the body for so long before she drains it and has to find another one. She knows when the body starts weakening and that's when she starts hopping dimensions, looking for a new Kim to occupy and leaving the old one to die."

"So she came here to switch with our Kim?" Kat asked, hoping that they could prevent anything bad from happening.

"Well…" Carri's voice trailed off. If they weren't in ranger worry mode yet, they would be now. "Last we saw of Kemora, her spirit had been banished from another dimension. She has just gotten strong enough to cross dimensions again and whether or not it was on purpose her spirit made its way into yours. She's already taken over your Kim."

"How can you be sure?" Tommy asked in a panic, feeling as though he couldn't breathe.

"An interdimensional traveler told us that she was here and that she'd taken over your Kim. It's how we found out about our goal here, to stop Kemora." Carri explained. She paused briefly before she continued. "And seeing her in the Youth Center, well I have experience with Kemora I know what she's like. And although the shell is Kim, who she is has been taken over by the demon."

"I'm not going to let Kim die." Tommy said with a determination that surprised even his teammates. "Just because Kemora has taken her I'm not going to accept this is over. We'll find a way to separate the two and save Kim."

"I promise we're going to try." Carri assured him. She had no idea what her Kim was up to and separating Kemora was a lot harder than they could imagine.

"Trying isn't good enough. We have to do something." Tommy said, looking past Carri and glancing up at his mentor. "I'll do whatever it takes. Where do we start?"

"We are not going to do anything until my Kim get's back." Carri replied firmly. Tommy was in a save Kim panic, she'd seen it in her own Tommy often enough. She was going to have to try and get him to calm down and look at the situation logically. "There's nothing we can do. Kim has powers comparable to those of Kemora. She's the only one who can stop her and we have to wait until she returns with a solution."

"I don't care about Kemora. I just want her out of Kim." Tommy's words were filled with a mixture of anger and determination.

Carri sighed. This was a lesson that was hard for anyone to learn. It was something no Tommy would be willing to understand, even her own and he knew the consequences of letting Kemora roam free. "We all want to save your Kim. But we have to stop Kemora. She'll destroy countless worlds and galaxies as she steams forward in her path for power and revenge. We'll do everything we can for Kim but Kemora is the primary goal."

"That is not acceptable." Tommy said harshly, standing straight up and glaring at the woman standing in front of him. He wasn't going to let Kim die, and he wasn't going to let them rush in with some half assed plan to get rid of Kemora at Kim's expense. He'd save her himself if he had to.

As the tension in the room mounted, a red light formed between Carri and Tommy before dissolving into the older Kim. "Hey guys, what did I miss?"

"Thank god." Carri grumbled. "Kemora's here and she probably knows I don't belong here and please tell me you know how to get rid of her and save Kim."

"Yup." Kim replied triumphantly as she held out an object in her hand. Everyone gathered around and inspected the ancient artifact that Kim was holding.

"What is that?" Tommy asked, not able to begin to fathom how it might help.

"A little something I found." She replied. And by found she meant searched relentlessly for over a course of several days on a remote planet in the middle of nowhere. Dulcea was right. It took her powers to find it and connect to it. And although it wasn't hard, the item in question had been well hidden and a pain to get to.

"I imagine it's more than a paperweight." Carri commented dryly giving Kim a look once she realized that she wasn't going to elaborate her answer.

"I can use my powers to activate it." Kim started, thinking about how she hoped she could activate it. She had tried and had only been successful once out of a dozen or so attempts. The odds were low but she didn't want to waste any more time trying. She figured she could get out into the field and do it there. "Once it's activated all Kemora has to do is touch it. Then it will pull her spirit out of the body it doesn't belong to, giving me the chance to banish her again."

Tommy nodded before going to ask the most important question. "And this will save Kim?"

"As long as Kemora hasn't done too much damage." Kim replied evenly. If their Kim was strong she'd last a long time under Kemora's possession. If not… well there wasn't much that anyone could do for her in that case.

"Great so" Rocky was abruptly cut off mid sentence. All eyes turned as the Power Chamber sensors went off.

"Rangers it appears as though Kemora is down on the surface along with a small army of King Mondo's Cogs." Zordon informed them as the images of Kemora came on screen.

"Let's do this then." Carri said as she shifted into ranger mode.

Kim looked over the artifact in her hand and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." She muttered before shifting into ranger stance as well. "Planetary Rangers power up!"

"It's morphin time!" Tommy quickly called from behind her. Within seconds the two types of rangers morphed and arrived on the scene.

* * *

Kemora stood in the middle of an empty parking lot waiting for Carri to bring her little friends to attack. She was doing well at terrorizing citizens, she was sure she had gotten her attention. Finally all of her efforts paid off as two separate types of rangers teleported in front of her.

"Planetary?" Kemora questioned with a raised eyebrow. "You'll need more than that to defeat me."

"That's why we brought her." Carri said with a nod in Kim's direction.

"Hello Kemora." Kim replied with a nasty tone that Carri wasn't used to hearing out of her friend. "Remember me?"

"Have I tormented you in the past?" Kemora asked with a wicked smile as she looked her over. She was a Kim, it was evident from her voice. Using her powers she reached out to feel her. That's when she realized what she was. "You're certainly not K. How silly of them to send you here after me. Unless you came to thank me of course. You do owe all your pretty little powers to me."

"I owe you for giving me what I need to kick your ass." Kim said as she held the artifact in her hand in an attempt to activate it.

Kemora snorted. "Please, even if you can get that to work do you think I'd be stupid enough to grab hold of it?" She asked. It was a nice try but this Kim was still a novice and she'd never get one over on her. Mustering up the strength from inside her she ran over to Kim and threw her across the parking lot before she could figure out how to stop her.

As Kim jumped to her feet the other rangers rushed to her aid. Before they could get close Kemora drew from her still recovering powers to put a force field around herself and Kim. The rangers watched helplessly as Kemora created a red glob that turned into a sword and Kim called for her Fire Saber.

"What do we do now?" Tommy asked, anxious to get inside the force field and save his girlfriend.

Carri grunted as she hit the force field and her hand bounced off. She turned her attention to the Cogs that were standing in attack formation. "Let's take care of them first." She suggested as she called for her Lightning Lance.

Reluctantly Tommy agreed and he and the other rangers prepared for their battle. While on the outside the battle between the Cogs and the rangers was beginning, on the inside the battle between the two Muirantians was going full force.

Kemora smiled as she clashed swords with Kim. The sword play was just child's play. She had bigger and better things she could do to this girl. What she wanted to do was take her body, but that was near impossible with her possessing Muirantian powers as well. She'd be able to block her attempts. Instead she'd have to hold her at bay here, kill all her friends, and go out and set up a way to kill her slowly and painfully. Perhaps if she was lucky she'd figure out how to get K. It would be a two for one.

Kim slung her sword at Kemora who blocked her attempt and smiled. "You know I could go at this forever." She said smugly as she pushed Kim back.

"Wouldn't you know. So could I." Kim reminded her. Although there was nothing in this world that would make her want to spend the rest of her life, however long that may be, fighting Kemora. As Kemora came at her and took a swing at her midsection, Kim hovered high into the air.

"Anything you can do I can do better." Kemora reminded her in a sing song voice as she levitated as well. The fight continued several feet in the air, near the top of the boundary of the force field.

The sword play was fierce until Kim kicked Kemora in the stomach, and she tumbled backwards and fell out of the air. With a grunt the demon hit the ground. She wasn't at full power yet and it was hard to simultaneously levitate and hold the force field up. Glancing up she saw Kim fall to the ground and tilt her head. "You give up yet?" Kim asked with a cocky tone in her voice.

"I don't give up." Kemora growled as she leaped forward and attacked Kim.

Kim rolled to the ground with Kemora on top of her and at her first opportunity she kicked her away, leaping to her feet as Kemora did the same. The demon's eyes were burning red as she stared down her opponent. She was not about to be beaten by someone who had only experienced a fraction of the powers she had.

As the fight inside the force field grew fiercer, the fight outside was slowing down. The cogs were dwindling in number, and although Mondo had already sent down replacements once it appeared as though he was done throwing his cogs away in her fight. Carri and the Zeo's worked diligently to make whatever was left of the Cog army disappear.

The moment Adam kicked the last of the Cogs down, Tommy turned and ran back to the force field. "How do we get in here?" he asked as he tried several times unsuccessfully to break the barrier with his weapon.

"It seems pretty solid." Kat remarked as the other rangers walked up and looked it over.

Carri walked up and frowned as she looked at the action going on inside. There were powers being used, blows being taken, and none of it looked very pretty. "We've got to figure out a way to give Kim a chance to get that thing activated." She commented. There was no way Kim even had time to give it a shot while Kemora was attacking her like that.

"Then we've got to get in." Rocky pointed out. Although like everyone else, he had no clue how to accomplish that.

Carri stuck her hands out and pressed against it. It didn't give, it didn't bend. It was solid and Kemora was doing a good job of keeping it up. She shook her head. "Kemora has to be forced to take it down."

Helplessly the others watched as Kemora and Kim battled. They were moving all over the giant space Kemora had created for them to fight. They got toward one side of the force field and Kemora kicked Kim hard face first into its walls. Kim stumbled back a little, not aware that she had been so close to the force field. With all her powers Kemora picked Kim up and threw her to the other side of the force field and she hit the wall once more, falling crumbled up to the floor.

Kim laid there for a moment. She didn't know how much time she'd have but it may be in her best interest to simply play dead. It would give her a moment to mess with the artifact. Kemora was running her mouth and walking slowly toward her so that should give her a little bit time. If she could get it activated, perhaps she could trick her into taking it.

The others watched as Kim hit the wall and fell down. "She's not getting up." Tommy said in a panic. She was their only way of rescuing Kim.

Carri watched as Kemora stood on the other end taunting Kim. The demon looked over toward the rangers who were aching to get in and winked before she slowly walked toward the fallen ranger, thinking of what she was going to do to her when she got there. All at once the Zeo's started fretting aloud about how to rescue both Kim's. Carri tuned them out as she reached toward the sky and started bringing lightning bolts down to the top of the force field, trying to get it to break.

Kemora snapped her head in the white rangers direction. She was making it a bit difficult to continue to hold up the force field. But it didn't matter. One good attack on Kim and she'd take her out of the picture so she could kill the rest of them.

Kim continued to remain curled up on the floor. She could hear the lightning bolts, hear Kemora's footsteps getting closer. She tried to block all of that out and concentrate. It was as difficult as it had been before and she couldn't get it to activate to save her life. Closing her eyes she took a few deep breaths. She had to do this, she was running out of time.

As Kemora approached she reached inside her for all the power she could muster. She was going to hit Kim with everything she had. She tried to balance her powers between holding onto the force field and hurting Kim. She knew her powers were still too weak to fully concentrate on both tasks. But as she got closer to Kim she got greedy. She was such an easy target, laying there lifeless and asking for Kemora to destroy her. She had underestimated her Muirantian powers. This girl hadn't learned as much as she assumed she did.

Kim could hear Kemora drawing closer. As she was almost on top of her she could hear the lightning crash all the way to the ground. The force field had been broken. Kemora could no longer keep it up. Which mean she was about to attack her. She heard two sets of footsteps lunge toward her. One belonged to Kemora, and from the voice she could tell the other belonged to Carri. She had merely seconds if she was going to pull this off this time. Pulling all her knowledge and power from within her, she held the artifact in her hand. Briefly she closed her eyes, and as she opened them back up she could see it glowing.

She noticed Carri approaching quickly from the side. That gave her an idea. As Carri came up to her she stuck her hand out and Carri grabbed the artifact. Processing quickly she placed it in Kemora's outstretched hands as she leaped to attack Kim. Not expecting Carri to have the artifact, she reacted on instinct and grabbed whatever she handed to her.

Quickly Kim rolled out of the way as Kemora fell to the ground, her spirit starting to separate from the young girl's body. Kim reached her hand out and called for her Phaedosian Staff. As it fell into her hands Kemora's spirit separated from the body it had taken hostage. Kim pulled the power from the staff and directed it toward Kemora, opening a portal and throwing her through it.

Kim knelt down to check the pulse of the young Kimberly. "I think she's going to be ok. We need to get her back to the Power Chamber though." She said as the Zeo team rushed over toward them.

Tommy picked up the unconscious Kim from the ground. "Let's get going." He said as he and the Zeo team teleported off.

"Where did you send Kemora?" Carri questioned, glancing over at Kim.

"Back where she came from." Kim said simply.

Carri smiled. "K's gonna love you for that." She said, thinking about how her spirit was previously floating around K's home dimension as they both teleported to the Power Chamber.

* * *

The young Kimberly Hart sat up on the medical table with her boyfriend rooted firmly to her side. She was trying to comprehend all that had happened to her that day. "So that was an evil me, us?" she asked looking at the older Kim.

"Something like that." Kim replied. "The important thing is that she's gone and you're alive. You were lucky. Not everyone she possesses survives."

"Will she come back for her? After all she knows who she is now." Tommy asked as he put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

"I doubt it." Kim replied. "Not on purpose anyway. She knows who I am now, knows my signatures. She'd come looking for me first." She replied in an attempt to reassure them. When they didn't look satisfied she continued. "Plus it's going to be a while before she's out again anyway. I banished her from her body, which will weaken her powers again. It'll take some time before her spirit can connect with another Kim."

"Will there be any side effects?" Kim asked. Other than the ones she already felt. The memories of Kemora that touched her. All those that the demon had killed, all those she had destroyed. While Kemora possessed her she didn't even get to skim the surface of who she was and she still had enough to give her a lifetime's worth of nightmares.

Kim looked at the young girl and smiled. "You should be just fine." She assured her. She doubted Kemora was around long enough to do any lasting damage to this Kim. She was lucky.

"Do you think, I mean" Kim paused and blinked back a few tears, "will she keep doing that to people?"

"She'll try." Kim replied, watching as her younger self took a deep breath and nodded. "But there are others like me who are going to continue to try and stop her now. Don't worry about Kemora. We'll keep her contained." What she knew, what she didn't want to say was that the task of containment was nearly impossible. With the help of the Lightspeed Rescue team she had tried it once when she was in college and had gotten swept away into Kemora's web on another world. She lived almost ten years thinking Kemora was gone. Until K came into their lives. That visit changed everything.

"Thank you for saving me." Kim said smiling briefly at her older self.

"You're welcome." She replied.

"So is that it?" Rocky asked glancing at the two women. He was excited to get Kendall back, but he was sad to see them go. "I mean have you done everything you needed to do here?"

"That was my mission, my purpose. We're free to go home now." Kim replied. She hoped this was the only mission she'd be blindly thrown into any time soon.

Carri gave him a goofy grin. "I was just along for the ride." She added as Kim snorted. She was kind of pleased to be able to piss the dimensional guardians off. After all, they took Kim against her will. It was only fair that they got more than what they bargained for. Besides, even though Kim did all the grunt work she did prove useful.

"Thank you." Tommy spoke, pausing a moment. "For everything you've done here." They owed these women for everything from the battle with Leaky Faucet to saving Kim. As Tommy finished speaking, the rest of the team echoed his sentiments.

"You're welcome." Kim said as Carri nodded in reply. "Now I think it's time for us to go home."

Kim moved so she was standing next to Carri and she linked her arm in her friend's. "I'm going to drop her off, then I'll be back with Kendall." She said with a smile as a red light emerged from within her and the two women disappeared.

* * *

Kendall awoke on a cold muddy surface scared and worried. She wondered how long she'd been out. Glancing at her watch she noticed that it couldn't have been more than five minutes that passed. That couldn't be right. It was only late afternoon when she was at home. Now she was out in the middle of the forest and it was nighttime.

Slowly she pulled herself up and stood as she took in her surroundings. Glancing around she noticed two devices sitting on the ground. She couldn't tell what they were, and she leaned down to pick one up and examine it. It was complex and she had no idea what it was so she sighed and put it back down.

"Hello!" she called out, wondering if there was even any point to calling for anyone. When no one responded she took a few minutes to examine the area. When she was satisfied that she was completely clueless, she knew it was time to call for help.

As she brought her communicator to her mouth a red light appeared before her. She stopped and the light faded away, revealing what appeared to be an older version of her cousin Carri and another woman. "What's going on here?" She asked as she jumped into a defensive stance.

"Relax." Carri replied as she rolled her eyes. "We're not going to hurt you."

"There's been a bit of a mix up. I'm here to take you home. You're team will explain everything when we get there." Kim said as she held out her hand.

Kendall was unsure if she could trust this woman but she was wearing some sort of communicator. Perhaps she was telling the truth. "Ok." She said slowly as she reluctantly held out her hand.

Kim took her hand and teleported them back to the scene she and Carri had just left. "That was fast." Adam commented as they materialized before them.

"One of the benefits of my powers." Kim replied with a grin.

"Are you ok?" Rocky asked as he and Kat went up to Kendall.

"Yeah I mean I was only out there a few minutes." Kendall said with a shrug. It freaked her out but at the same time it was no big deal, and she had no idea why Rocky and Kat were hovering around her and why Tommy was attached to some strange girl on a med bed.

The other rangers looked curiously at Kim. "Another benefit, I can bend time. I just picked her up right where she was dropped off. You guys went through a whole day that she didn't."

"Is that… bad?" Kat asked somewhat confused.

"No, it'll be fine." Kim promised them.

"So what exactly happened while I was gone?" Kendall asked, looking from her cousin to her boyfriend.

"You've got a lot of catching up to do." Rocky replied with a grin.

Kim smiled at the rangers as they all huddled together to explain the story of the past day to Kendall. Turning Kim took one last glance at Zordon. "Goodbye." She said with a smile, trying to avoid the tears that wanted to push forward. Before she got any more emotional she teleported herself back home.

"So." Carri said as she picked her scanner up off the ground and handed the other one to Kim. "Are we not telling the boys?"

"I don't think so. We ran a mission successfully, they don't need to know about every mission." Kim pointed out. "Besides the last thing Tommy needs to know is that Thomas and the dimensional guardians have their eye on me."

Carri snorted. "That poor boy would have a heart attack. Or have delusions of going after the dimensional guardians and Thomas. Or both."

"Knowing Tommy? Both." Kim replied. It was certainly in their best interest to keep all of this away from him for the moment. "So then we agree that it's best not to share our little adventure?"

"Please I don't want Rocky to freak out either. As long as they didn't notice we were missing I am cool with it." Carri said. He worried about her enough about her normal ranger activities, she certainly didn't want him worrying about what Kim had gotten her into.

"Great. So then we're back to where we started." Kim said turning and giving her friend a sly smile. "Searching for a needle in a haystack."

"Haha." Carri replied dryly. "I still think we're never going to find this stupid thing."

"Yes well we have to. Billy needs it." Kim quickly reminded her. The conversation was certainly familiar but it seemed as though it had been years since they'd had it last. Time had passed and both girls were in totally different places than when they first started this search.

"Yes but its still getting dark. And we're still clueless." Carri replied. She thought for a minute and then she groaned. "And I still have work to do when I go home. I just want to crash."

"Aren't we Miss Complainy tonight?" Kim teased. Although she agreed, more than anything she wanted to crash as well. She was exhausted. She had exerted her powers more in the last few days than she had done in a while. Using her powers like that wore her out and made her hungry and she just wanted to eat a giant meal then lie in bed and recuperate her energy.

"Yeah well what can I say." Carri replied with a shrug. It didn't take her long to remember why she didn't want to be out there in the first place. Suddenly she remembered what they had decided right before they left. "Weren't we going to call the others and tell them we should postpone the search until tomorrow?"

"Yeah I believe we were." Kim replied as she pulled her communicator toward her mouth. "Billy?"

"Go ahead." Billy was quick to reply.

"It's getting dark out here. Maybe we should call it a night, see who has covered what ground, and try again tomorrow." Kim was making a suggestion, although her tone came across as a leader who had already made the decision.

"Affirmative." Billy replied. "I'll contact the others and we'll meet here briefly. I can use the locators on the scanners to map out what ground everyone has covered so far and we will try again tomorrow."

"Alright. Carri and I are on our way." Kim said. As she pulled her hand down she smiled at her friend. "Let's call it a night." Both girls used their communicators and teleported back to the Power Chamber before heading home to get some much needed rest.

* * *

Thomas watched as the two Planetary Rangers teleported themselves away. He was quite pleased with this one's performance. Although that wasn't what he had told the DG in his earlier conversation.

What he told them was what he'd intended on telling them. That her powers were there but they weren't developed enough to work for them full time. That she needed to learn more before they attempted to use her again. The DG was disappointed but they took his words under advisement. It would certainly buy this girl some time, although he didn't know how much. The DG would keep an eye on her, that much was certain. They knew her powers would develop more quickly because of her previous training with Dulcea. And they would eventually be inclined to use her again.

The truth was far from what he had shared with the DG. He was impressed with the way she handled Kemora. She wasn't polished, but that came with her youth. Eventually she'd be aware of the full extent of her powers and she'd be able to do everything that K could. He even thought that if she weren't as defiant she could be of assistance to the DG with all she knew now. But he wasn't about to bring her in front of them yet. Hopefully by the time he was forced to, she'd be more sensible about her response. They'd most certainly kill her if they didn't like what she had to say.

Thomas shook his head. He wasn't sure if he wanted to say anything to K. But this one knew enough to teleport herself to K's home world and ask for advice. Or complain. But for now he'd leave it be. It was time to go check on the young one and see how she was doing. Thomas left the forest thinking one last time about the girl of this world that he would be keeping an eye on, hoping that this one would make the right choices as she developed her Muirantian powers.


	22. The Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer:** As usual the ranger's are Disney's, K and the Nova Rangers are KSuzie's, Callisto is Universal's and everyone else is mine.  
**Author's Notes:** There is a scene early on where Kim goes to K's world to talk to K. This scene takes place at some point in KSuzie's future fic, _The Triads_. There are references to things that have happened on K's end. I am not going to fill you all with spoilers :) so you will have to wait for specifics until these things start coming into play in Triad chapters.  
Also, I've said this before but if you didn't follow _The Coins_ and are completely confused about the references to Kim's powers or K and her world, don't hesitate to send me a message. I will be glad to answer any questions for you.

Power Rangers Legacy  
"The Calm Before the Storm"

Kim sat alone in her quiet living room early on a Friday morning. She had been granted the weekend alone as Tommy took off that morning for Reefside to take care of some things and wouldn't return until Sunday. She had gotten up early that morning to see him off, and now with her still having a while to go until she had to be at work she had time to think, although she wasn't sure if she really wanted it.

When she was alone her thoughts drifted back a week and a half, to Thomas and the dimensional guardians and Kemora. She'd been so busy since then she'd managed to keep those thoughts subdued. But now without life around her to drown those thoughts out she found herself focused on them.

There was a lot to process over the incident. She worried about the younger alternate Kim and about what would happen to her now that she's been exposed to Kemora. Oddly, Kemora's presence in itself was at the end of the list of what she was processing. The demon would come back, she had been well aware of that since she left K's home dimension. Now that she'd put her in her place once again, it would be a while before they would see her. At the top of her list of thoughts was the fact that she had been the one sent after Kemora in the first place.

Not that she didn't want to fight her, she felt as though she owed her one. She knew what she was capable of and she didn't want her inflicting that on others. But she had been forced to fight her, and that was what she was upset about. The dimensional guardians had her ripped from her home dimension and got her to carry out their wishes. It was difficult, she hadn't asked for this at all.

This was not the life she wanted to lead, this was K's mission, K's job. Although she supposed K didn't chose this either. She didn't know the details of what K did, she didn't know if K enjoyed her work or was forced into doing it. She wondered how K felt, if she was only doing what she did in order to please the guardians. After all when she followed their wishes this time, when she did it in the future, it would only be to please them in order to keep her life together.

Like it or not, she heard Thomas's warning loud and clear. She didn't want her life to come to an abrupt end at their hands. That didn't mean she knew how to handle the situation. What it did mean is that at some point she'd have to figure out how to work with them. She didn't like the thought one bit and she didn't know how K did it.

It was a lot to think about and she wished more than anything she had someone to discuss it with. The only one who knew everything was Carri. She could, she had expressed her anxiety to her. Carri was a good listener and she offered her advice but she simply didn't understand. She couldn't and Kim didn't expect her to either. Besides Carri, no one else on Earth knew what was going on as neither she nor Carri spoke of it except to each other.

They had both kept up their word not to tell their significant others and it was for the best. Rocky would be upset and Tommy, we'll he'd be livid. He worried about Kim enough without throwing the dimensional guardians or Thomas into the mix. Suddenly Kim realized why K's Tommy didn't like Thomas at all. But K trusted him. Perhaps K had to trust him. He did seem like a good man. Even though he was forcing the dimensional guardian's will on her, at the same time she felt as though he really wanted to help her. At the moment she was undecided about him, about everything really. One day she'd see him again and probably meet with the dimensional guardians and she'd be able to form a better opinion.

But that didn't keep her from going through everything in her mind. She wanted someone to talk to. She needed someone to talk to. The problem was that the only one in any dimension that she could share what happened and her concerns with, the only one that would truly understand, was K. And she couldn't just drop in on K.

Then again, why couldn't she? K was very much the dimensional traveler, it wasn't like she was going to surprise her with stuff she didn't know about. And it was easy enough to get to K's home world. Perhaps K could give her some advice, or at the very least she could help answer some of her questions and really be able to understand what she was talking about.

Her mind was made up. She needed to talk to someone, and the best someone would be K. Standing she closed her eyes as she drew from her powers. Within seconds Kim disappeared from her living room.

* * *

Kim found herself in a world that she'd visited twice before. Once was with K as she came to defend this planet, and the other time she'd simply brought herself here because she could. It was amazing what this world had been through, and it was obvious that it was picking itself back up again. She was impressed with the progression since her last visit.

Deciding now was not the time to stop and look around, Kim closed her eyes and concentrated on the resident Kimberly. She wasn't hard to find and Kim quickly teleported herself to K. When she arrived it occurred to her that she shouldn't just barge in as she didn't know what company K was keeping. Fortunately K was alone, and was startled by her appearance.

"Sorry." Kim apologized for making the other woman jump.

K smiled and sat before gesturing for Kim to do the same. "It's alright." She replied as she looked Kim over. She hadn't seen her since her powers started to develop but it appeared as though they were coming along quite nicely. And if she had to guess, she was bending time to learn how to use them. She hadn't aged at all but the familiar circles around her eyes gave her travels away. "You seem like you're getting good at this."

"Too good I'm afraid." Kim replied as she sat. Her powers had caused more than just the dimensional guardians to gain interest, she had to worry about forces within her own galaxy as well. As K looked at her curiously she spoke again. "Have you seen Thomas lately?"

"Not in a while." K replied. Because of what had happened to her recently and what she was going through, Thomas and Primus both had been leaving her alone for the most part. They'd still keep in contact and occasionally she was sent on a mission.

"He recruited me." Kim said, pausing before quickly amending her statement. "Well the dimensional guardians recruited me, he was just their messenger." Messenger was the kind way to say it, he'd more or less been the enforcer. He threw her there and made sure she carried out their wishes.

"I'm sorry." K said with a sigh. She'd hoped this Kim would be off their radar for a little while longer but it simply wasn't meant to be. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised, she knew from the start that it was only a matter of time. She was more surprised that she was just now finding out and she couldn't help but wonder how long Thomas was planning on keeping this from her.

K looked at her alternate and gave her a slight smile before continuing. "The DG want to put our powers to use, like it or not. It's the price we pay for what we have become."

"I don't like it." Kim replied frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't want to do their bidding but I'm under the impression from Thomas that it's follow their orders or die. I don't know when they'll ask for my services again but I suppose I'll do what I can."

K closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew all too well where defying the DG got you. After her experience she obeyed them, not because they scared her into it but because of what happened to Tommy while she was gone. "Thomas is right. You should listen to him, he doesn't want anything bad to happen to you. Trust me, if the DG thinks you're out of control they'll, well, I suppose if you're lucky it will be quick and painless." Of course K knew all too well that what happened to Kim if she disobeyed could be the least of the DG's worries. She had her own Tommy she was very close to that wouldn't take it lightly.

Kim nodded and locked eyes with her as she held back the emotional response. She didn't want to die, not now. She had friends and family and Tommy and she had a whole life to live. Or at least their whole life. What was to happen when everyone she knew died she didn't know. But she knew what she wanted to do while they were here. And if that meant following the DG's orders she supposed she would. "I've thought a lot since I spoke to Thomas. I don't know whether or not I should trust him, but where the DG's concerned I'll do what needs to be done to stay with everyone on Earth."

K assumed by everyone she was thinking about Tommy. She knew she was when she thought she'd never be allowed back to Earth alive. "I won't try to convince you to trust Thomas." She said as she thought about it. Thomas was complex and for someone who knew as much as this Kim did it would take a lot to trust him. "I will encourage you to listen to him when it comes to the DG. It's not the life that you may want to lead but it's better than not being allowed to lead any kind of life at all."

She knew that one day the DG would do more than just send Thomas to push her around. One day they'd bring her in more than she'd care for. But it seemed as though they just wanted her running missions at the moment. "What did the DG send you to do?"

"To stop Kemora." Kim replied simply.

K looked taken back. She couldn't believe she hadn't heard of this before. She knew they'd been sending her on lower risk missions because of her situation, but she was always person they called on to stop Kemora. She wasn't sure if she was more worried or confused that they were apparently trying to groom this Kim into taking over the more dangerous work of going after Kemora.

She shook those thoughts away as she focused on the fact that Kemora was free and attacking again. "What happened?" she asked, suddenly worried about the timelines that the demon may have gotten her hands into.

"She was weak when she took over another world's Kim. I managed to use an artifact to banish her spirit from that Kim's body and I sent it back here. She's probably weaker than before and floating around in space somewhere." Kim replied. It was a difficult task, although this battle with Kemora was much easier than her previous three. Banishing a demon that wasn't at full strength had proven not so difficult, especially with her new powers.

K nodded. It was good that Kemora was here again and weak again. That would prevent her from doing much damage. But the Kim that she killed, the world that she touched…. What was done there could be devastating. "I'll have to see if the timeline needs repairing." She said more to herself than anything. Kemora had a knack for switching worlds from green to blue and vice versa.

"I'm sure everything's fine." Kim supplied. She didn't know much about the timelines but she was pretty sure that this would be written off as nothing more than a ranger adventure. "I mean when we left it was as good as when we got there."

"Except Kemora killed another Kim." K replied. This Kim was younger, she didn't know about how much damage could be caused just by one of their alternates dying.

"No she didn't." Kim countered as K's head snapped slightly toward her. "Kim was jilted and probably scared for life but she lived."

"What?" K asked in disbelief. Surviving a possession was a rarity. With one exception Kemora's victims were killed, it was simply a fact of life.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Kim asked, slightly surprised by K's reaction.

"I'm not sure yet. There's a lot to figure out." K said as she leaned back and glanced at Kim. This was definitely an unusual occurrence.

* * *

Jason pulled up to the front of the small café. It was nothing more than a little hole in the wall, but it was always packed and everyone around said it was the greatest place for a late morning brunch. Brunch was what he had been thinking about the moment he heard that this was Emily's Friday off.

He wanted to talk to her, to really talk to her. It had been almost two weeks since Carri and Kim caught him in the bar with Emily. He'd spent all night pouring out his emotions to them. He knew that neither of them wanted Emily back in his life, not after the last time. But they also could see how he felt about the situation and they wanted him to do whatever made him happy.

That was the hard part. He wasn't sure what would make him happy. There were certainly pros and cons for trying to start up a relationship with her again. He had spent the last two weeks weighing them thoroughly. They hadn't hung out as much in that time. Mainly because he didn't know what to say after the messy incident in the bar, but it was also because being with her swayed him to ignore the cons and he really needed to keep his head on straight and think.

She had been thrilled when he called her on Wednesday to find out her work schedule. Although she hadn't said anything, he knew what she thought. That Kim and Carri convinced him to wean off of her, that she was no good for him. She was excited to meet him for bunch although she had no idea what he really wanted to talk about.

What he couldn't say over the phone was that he'd made up his mind. He had come to a decision about whether or not to be friends or take the next step. There was going to be no more dancing around, no more uncomfortable glances as each one of them wondered where they should go from here. Although she had never said anything to him, he knew she thought the same thing. Today they would draw the lines definitively.

As he walked in he saw Emily already sitting at a small table for two. "Hey." She greeted as he came in and sat down. It was nice for him to ask her somewhere. Ever since they were interrupted she had been the one calling to invite him for beers. She had been wondering if it was just about time to end their obsessive friendship and just be casual acquaintances.

"Sorry I'm late." Jason said as he sat. He had spent too much time in the house that morning trying to get his head on straight and focus on making sure he said what he wanted to.

"It's ok. I got us a pot of coffee." Emily replied with a smile as she gestured to the hot pot that had been left by their waitress.

Jason smiled back as he poured himself a cup before ignoring the coffee and turning toward the menu. "So… how was your week?" he asked. He wanted to jump right into what he had to say but he had no idea where to start. This wasn't the direction he wanted to go in.

"It was good. I've been really busy at work lately. I was glad this was my Friday off." Emily replied. They worked long shifts at her research facility usually getting out at six at night and going in as early as six in the morning. Although it didn't happen often, as a senior staff member if the project required it sometimes she'd find herself coming back into work during the late night hours and on weekends. That was why it was nice that she was granted every other Friday off.

"Me too." Jason said. He was ready to launch into what he had to say when the waitress interrupted them. Quickly he placed his order and waited for Emily to place hers, then the menus were picked up and they were left alone again. Jason glanced across the table and took a deep breath before giving Emily a nervous smile.

"What?" She questioned. She could tell by the way he was acting he had something to say. She had a feeling she knew what it was. It was what she was afraid of. That Kim and Carri convinced him she was no good for him. Maybe they were right. After all she did ruin him once.

"I suppose the only way to say something is to just get it out." Jason replied. He didn't know why this was so hard. He told everybody everything that was on his mind. He was usually quite blunt but where Emily was concerned he was nervous. He closed his eyes for a moment and focused himself before quickly opening them again. He was just going to do it. "I've been thinking about us a lot lately. And I've come to some conclusions and I wanted to let you know how I felt."

"You don't have to say it." Emily said softly, registering the surprise in his eyes as he looked at her. "I knew this wouldn't work. It's why you've been avoiding me lately. It's too hard after… well whatever the girls said I'm sure they're right."

"That's not it at all." Jason said quickly. "After that night in the bar they told me to do what's best for me. They listened to me talk all night about how hard it was to be around you. How hard it was to look into your eyes and to see the way your lips curl up when you smile at me or the way your hair falls around your face. To experience those sensations that reminded me of why we were together in the first place while only being able to be just friends. I can't do that anymore."

Emily was genuinely confused. Did he not want to be friends with her? She didn't want to not have him in her life, but it would be harder knowing she lost him because he liked her too much and not because he was still angry. "What are you trying to say?"

"I don't want to be just friends. I want to be more than just friends. I want to go on dates with you, I want to try again to be us." Jason finished. There. It was off of his chest. She'd either agree with him or shoot him down. He hoped it was the former but if it was the latter at least he could move on.

Emily paused for what had to have been the longest minute in Jason's life. She couldn't believe what he said. Granted it was what she had wanted to begin with, her second chance. But she didn't think she deserved it, she didn't think he'd ever give it to her. And she wouldn't blame him if he didn't. But here he was offering it to her. She almost didn't know what to say, how to respond. She never thought it would come to this.

Gathering herself she flashed Jason a smile. "How about tonight?"

"Tonight?" Jason questioned, unsure of what she was getting at.

"You said you wanted to date again. I'm free tonight." Emily replied. She couldn't help but grin at him.

"Oh." Jason replied with enthusiasm. "Lucky for you I'm free tonight as well. How about I pick you up at seven?" he asked. He suddenly felt very relaxed. She was agreeing to give it another shot. Now he could enjoy the rest of breakfast and be himself.

"Seven it is." Emily said as she leaned back in her seat and exchanged a smile with Jason. Who would have thought she'd be getting her second chance. She wasn't going to screw this up. This time it would turn out differently.

* * *

Callisto sat in the throne room of the Lunar Palace making fireballs in her hands. She found herself daydreaming, as much as a goddess does. Her patience was wearing thin. She wanted to bring death and destruction to the surface but those rangers were always there to foil her. So she had to wait for Rhianna. In the meantime she was stuck thinking about all the wonderful things she could do if she got the opportunity.

She would start by setting the rangers on fire. The looks on their faces as they burned – it got her excited just thinking about it. Her mind drifted back to one afternoon years ago when she thought she'd burnt Carri to a crisp. That was the happiest time in her angry existence for the few months she thought it to be true. The next opportunity she got she wouldn't be fooled. She would make absolute sure that it was the human she killed.

She wasn't sure where she'd go once she'd fried the rangers. Perhaps she'd stay and help Rhianna gain control of the planet. That was all the little girl wanted, that was her ambition in life. Callisto couldn't blame her, it was her parents goal and she wanted to see it through. After that, who knew. She certainly didn't want to stick around this mangy planet any longer than it had to. Despite the fact that as a human she was from here, it held too many poor memories. There were plenty of others throughout the galaxy that deserved her wrath.

"Callisto." Cratus greeted as he walked Rhianna in front of her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"You've returned." She stated as she glanced between Cratus and Rhianna. She didn't know what she was expecting, but Rhianna didn't look any different. More determined maybe, but not different. "I assume everything went well?"

"I think I'm ready." Rhianna replied. The training had been grueling but she thought she had a handle on her new powers. She couldn't wait to use them to crush the rangers.

Callisto glanced over at Cratus. "And you agree?"

Cratus gave her a slight not. "It is the only reason we returned." He was confident that her powers wouldn't short themselves like they did last time. She would be able to take on those rangers.

"Then I guess the only thing left to do is test them out." Callisto said as she flashed a small smile at Rhianna. "We need to find a set of rangers."

"I thought we already had one." Rhianna replied as she raised an eyebrow and glared at the goddess. She hadn't thought much about her in the few weeks she was training with Cratus. But being in front of her now with her obviously not intending on letting her attack Earth reminded her of all the issues she had before she left, specifically with Goldar. But she had to try not to let that get to her and she'd continue to do Callisto's bidding. Partly because Callisto was going to let her eventually get what she wanted, but mostly because as a goddess Callisto could still kill her before she ever got a chance to avenge anything.

"We do." Callisto said with a nod. "However we gave them too much of a look at your powers the first time. I don't want to risk another failed attack. They'll get a second chance to study what you can do. The more chances they get, the more likely it is they'll figure out a way to counteract your powers. After all, you only have one piece of the crystal."

Rhianna was confident she wouldn't fail, but she kept her mouth clamped shut. Instead she played along with the goddess's wishes. "Who do you suggest we go after?"

"Another team that deserves a little display of what you can do." Callisto replied with a sly smile. She had thought about this a lot after Rhianna left. She'd need a test team and who better to use than the team they owe the second most to for that campaign against them that was going on a year ago. Rhianna looked curious as to what her answer would be so Callisto elaborated. "The Nova Rangers."

Rhianna smiled and nodded her head. It was a good choice of a team to go after. And once she was sure she was battle ready, she could come back home and get things in motion. "I think I know just how to get their attention." She said with a smile as she took off, leaving Callisto and Cratus alone in the throne room.

* * *

It was late morning and Rocky found himself putting two breakfast plates down on the table and having a seat as he heard his fiancé stirring in the next room. He knew she'd be getting up soon as both of them had work to attend to that afternoon.

He had fixed French toast, sausage and eggs for their morning meal. He didn't usually find himself cooking breakfast. They didn't usually see each other for breakfast as between their work schedules they rarely had to be out of the house at the same time. But this morning he was going in a little late so he could stay and talk to Carri.

He'd been wanting to really talk to her for a while now but she'd been brushing over the subject. She was the most abnormal female he'd ever met. But then again, that was one of the reasons why he loved her so much. He figured if he could get her in a good mood in the morning when she was half asleep he maybe had a chance to get her to have a serious discussion.

Carri stumbled out into the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of coffee before eying the breakfast laid out for her on the table. She headed over to the table and leaned down to nuzzle her face in his neck, giving him a kiss. "Thanks." She said as she took her seat. "What's the occasion?"

"Can't a guy just want to make breakfast?" Rocky questioned defensively as he quickly grinned at her.

Carri simply rolled her eyes and shrugged as she started in on her French toast. "Whatever." She said after she swallowed her first bite. Thinking for a moment she turned toward him. "Aren't you running a bit late this morning?"

"I wanted to stay and have breakfast. We've both been so busy as of late I thought it would be nice." Rocky replied with a smile. She knew he had something on his mind, he could tell.

"It is nice." Carri said, not quite believing that was his only motive.

"Yeah." Rocky agreed, smiling once more. "I talked to Adam yesterday."

"How's he doing?" she asked. It was rare that she got a chance to talk to Adam. He still worked for her father and knew her brother but that didn't make them any more connected.

"Good. I finally got the chance to ask him to be my best man." Rocky replied. He'd wanted to ask before but they never really got a chance to talk. Adam was three hours ahead of him and that made it hard to sync up time to have a conversation.

"Oh. Cool." Carri said giving him a little smile. She suddenly had an idea about why there had been French toast this morning. He wanted to soften her up so he could talk about their wedding. She had, for the most part, been avoiding any wedding themed conversation. She really had no clue where to go from here. Never had she daydreamed about her perfect wedding, the flowers, the colors, the people, the dresses, none of that had ever crossed her mind. Now that someone wanted it to, she didn't know what to say.

"It got me thinking that maybe that was a good place to start planning. With the wedding party." Rocky suggested. He wanted them to start moving in some sort of direction. He knew Carri was seriously out of her element here and he was grateful that she wanted to marry him, but if they were going to have a wedding next summer they were going to have to start making baby steps.

"Yeah ok." Carri said. He did go through all that trouble to make breakfast. The least she could do was throw him a bone. "I've got Kim and Ashley." That was as far as she's gotten to even thinking about who'd be in her wedding. And that was really all she wanted. There were very few women in her life that were close enough to her that she'd consider asking them to be a part of this.

"I've asked Adam. And I'm going to ask Tommy." Rocky replied. He had Tommy were good friends after he transferred to Angel Grove High School. Although they drifted apart, he still wanted him to be a part of his wedding. He thought for a moment then continued. "Plus we've got all of my siblings and your brother of course. That makes six guys and five girls."

Carri gave a small shrug. She thought about their siblings for a moment before her thoughts drifted to family in general. She let out a sigh. If she was going to avoid starting World War III with her mother, there was someone else she had to invite. "Six and six. It's simpler just to ask Kat." Besides maybe they could somehow mend things. Or after the wedding was over they'd hate each other forever. Either way they'd stop playing these games.

"That's good." Rocky replied. He thought of all the cousins and friends he could still ask to be in the wedding. But he was well aware that any more people and it would get way to hectic. He hoped he didn't hurt anybody's feelings. The one person he was most worried about was Aisha. They had been best friends since they were kids and he wanted her to be in it, but Carri didn't know her that well and he didn't know how to get her involved.

Carri ran through the names of everybody who would be standing beside them at the wedding and as the headache was starting to come on she realized there was one glaring omission. She shouldn't be surprised. After all, it was one of her closest friends, her not by blood brother and although he and Rocky had been friends they had never been close enough for Rocky to want to ask him to be a groomsman. "What about Jason? I'll ask him, he can be a bridesmaid on the groomsman side." If she wasn't doing this without her should be sister, she wasn't doing it without dragging her should be brother along for the ride with her.

Pausing, Rocky glanced at her for a moment. He shouldn't be surprised she asked about Jason. He hadn't really thought much about him, they were always friends but they never close enough. It felt kind of weird to him considering he was always jealous of the bond those two shared. But he knew Jason never treated Carri or Kim as anything more than sisters and that Carri would want him in there just as much as she wanted Josh involved. Besides it would give him a way to ask Aisha. "That's fine. Actually I was thinking of doing the same kind of thing if you don't mind. I wanted to ask Aisha to be a groomsman on the bridesmaid side."

Carri was a bit taken back at first. At least he knew Jason well. Carri had only spoken to Aisha a few times at different ranger occasions and even then it was briefly. But she was one of Rocky's best friends. And at the very least she'd give Kat someone to talk to when they had to do bridal party gatherings. "Sure why not." She said with a sigh. "Is that everyone?"

As she thought about it she realized it really shouldn't matter who he wanted to ask. After all she was only doing the whole ceremony thing for him. He really wanted a giant, traditional ceremony in the Catholic Church and she had already asked him to compromise there. If it were up to her, she'd gather the rest of their ranger team plus one or two extras and have them be witnesses as they got married in the courthouse. She was getting a beach wedding, which she actually kind of looked forward to, and those that meant the most to her were already guaranteed to be there, so really past that she figured she could listen to him and let him do whatever else he wanted.

"I think so." Rocky replied. Although he was sure if he worked hard enough he could come up with more.

"Good. I'm glad that's settled." Carri said as she worked on her French toast. She swallowed a bite before looking over at him. "I'm going to wolf this down so I can shower and get to a meeting at work." She changed the subject before giving him a giant grin, and then she quickly went back to her breakfast so she could get started on her day.

* * *

That afternoon, Tommy found himself sitting at a table in the cybercafé that Hayley ran, waiting for her to get there and join him. It had been almost a year since he last hung out there, and although the faces had changed the atmosphere was still the same.

The place was still full of kids from the high school relaxing. A few of them he recognized, they had been juniors in his class last year before he moved to Angel Grove for their current ranger campaign. They smiled and waved when they saw him and he waved back. He was glad that none of them came to ask them about where he'd been and what he'd been doing. Supposedly he left last spring to go on some important digs.

As he sat there somewhat patiently he heard a familiar voice call his name. "Dr. O!"

Tommy turned to see the blue ranger from his past approaching him. "Ethan! How are you doing?" He asked as his former student came over and sat down next to him.

"I'm doing pretty good. Been busy with class work. And gaming of course." Ethan replied with a smile. He was surprised to see Dr. O here. He hadn't heard from him since the emergency ranger meeting back at the beginning of the year. It was weird not seeing him hanging around over the summer.

"Speaking of class, shouldn't you be there now?" Tommy questioned. Stanford was a bit of a drive from Reefside, and he couldn't imagine why he would have skipped classes to come home.

"Relax." Ethan replied with a smile. "I don't have class on Friday's. I thought I'd come say hello." He paused for a moment before he smiled at him. "And shouldn't you be off saving the world?"

"There hasn't been much to do as of late." Tommy said. It was somewhat disturbing, but they were left with no option but to sit and wait. There had been no word of Rhianna's activities and as each day went by Tommy couldn't help but grow a little bit more concerned.

"I've seen what you've been doing around town. Any activity is huge state news." Ethan and his friends watched the news intently every night to see if there were any new ranger sightings. Of course his friends were just geeky ranger fanatics, they had no idea who he'd been or that he could actually place the faces inside the uniforms. "We saw some of what the others were doing too. I talked to Kira a while back. I can't believe she jumped in like that."

"It's hard to get it out of your system. I'm sure you'd jump back in if you were given the chance." Tommy replied. He certainly knew about rangering pulling one back in. He had more morphers than anyone. What that did to him he wasn't sure, although his dino gem did combine with his DNA and he wasn't too anxious to see the long term effects of that. But he wasn't sure he cared. He was a ranger, that was what he did.

"I probably would." Ethan admitted. It was like a live action video game and he loved it. He thought for a moment about the rangers and something occurred to him. He'd been busting at the seams to tell one of his former teammates his theories for the last few weeks but none of them could chat long enough to listen. Now that he had Dr. O sitting with him, he suspected his former teacher would be interested to hear what he has to say. He sat up in his chair as he started to change subjects. "Ok, so, you know how my friends and I are into sci-fi right?"

"Uh-huh." Tommy said, wondering what he was getting at. It certainly was no secret that Ethan and his friends were all science fiction fans.

"So we started this, sort of sci-fi book club. We've got this website and we'll read books and all post reviews about them." This was, of course, between school work and computer games. Which is why the latest book took months to read. "This summer we picked up the new Luke Kirk book. We haven't read his old stuff yet but he's huge with the other sci-fi readers."

Tommy looked at him oddly. He certainly never gave Ethan any indication he liked to read sci-fi books and he couldn't imagine what could be so interesting that Ethan wanted to tell him. "Did you like it?" He asked in order to humor him.

"Yeah the book was awesome. It had good guys and bad guys fighting it out, more romance than we'd like but," he paused as he saw Dr. O's fading interest, "that's not the point. The point is I spent some time in high school looking over the teams and the villains of the past and this book is lined with allusions to ranger villains. I wouldn't be surprised if the characters were based off of rangers too."

"That's impossible." Tommy replied. Nobody close enough to the team had written any books. He would most certainly know. He couldn't imagine that it was possible for something like that to circulate among rangers and he not find out about it. And it wasn't like there was anybody outside the ranger community who knew enough to write like Ethan was suggesting. "I think you're just making parallels because you know too many real life details."

"I pull parallels into all the sci-fi movies I watch. But this is different. Someone among us is writing I just don't know who it is." Ethan replied. It had driven him crazy and he had searched Luke Kirk until he was blue in the face, but he hadn't come up with anything besides the standard book jacket bio.

"Ok." Tommy said. For the moment he'd pretend it was true and see what Ethan knew. "What do we know about the author?"

"Luke Kirk?" Ethan asked although he knew that was who he was referencing. "Not much. Born and raised in Sacramento. Went to UCLA. Has parents and a sister. There's one or two photos of him circulating, both of which can be found in his books. Assuming that's his picture he's not a ranger. But who knows. He's never been seen or spoken to. He doesn't do talk shows, interviews, and anything in the press comes straight from his publisher's office."

"That is odd." Tommy agreed. Ethan seemed quite passionate about it. If Luke Kirk, whoever he is, is really from California then perhaps there is a ranger connection somewhere. Maybe he knows one of the rangers. It's worth investigating. He could probably look into it and dig up more than just the basics on Luke Kirk.

"Hey guys." Hayley said as she walked up toward the table.

Tommy looked back to see his house sitter standing there. "Hello." He replied as Ethan greeted her as well. He'd have to put aside Ethan's theories on Luke Kirk for the moment. For now, he'd need to get started on some of what he came here to do.

* * *

Elemi sat on the bridge of the Enzway as he thought long and hard about everything that had been going on as of late. They had been chasing Jakar around more furiously and were starting to pay the price for it. The ship had gotten a little banged up, even the crew was suffering. For the most part the injuries with the crew were easier to fix, as they had some of the most advanced medical equipment in their med bay. The ship was proving to be more difficult as they seemed to be spending all their time working on manual repairs.

Fortunately Jakar's ship and his followers never left unscathed either, which is why after a battle he usually backed off for a while. It gave them time to evaluate, research, and come up with new strategies for taking him on. He hoped that this battle with him would end sooner rather than later.

What he really hoped was that a certain red ranger would come fully into her powers and have a desire to assist the Nova's in their battle. After all, Jakar had gone to her home world to attack her, she had every right to go after him. It was quite the selfish desire. He had every confidence that one day the Nova's would defeat Jakar once and for all. He just wanted her to come work with them.

He found himself thinking of her often. And every time he thought he could push her out of his thoughts for a while he saw her, or she checked in with them, or something reminded him of her. It was a difficult road to be on. At the moment she wasn't inclined to return any of his affections as she was romantically involved with a ranger of Earth. But they weren't married and that meant there was still and opening for him. It was difficult though when they lived on two separate worlds. The months they fought together he knew there was a connection of sorts but they never followed it through.

"Elemi." Garan spoke sharply, pulling the red ranger out of his thoughts. "We're receiving a distress signal."

"Communications are back up?" Elemi questioned. Last he heard they were still damaged from the recent battle with Jakar.

"Just short range." Garan informed him. Short range communications were the first step, establishing the long range would take more time although they were definitely working on it. "It's from Katron. It's not all clear but it sounds like there is a colony there under attack."

Elemi cocked his head, slightly confused. "I was unaware that there were any colonies on Katron." It was an unsettled world, mostly forest and very few lived there. Not that it wasn't a decent world, but it took a lot of effort to start a successful colony out of nothing and no one had yet stepped forward to try.

"Perhaps there is a new group of settlers we haven't been made aware of." Garan agreed with his leaders thoughts, but there had to be a logical explanation for this transmission.

"At the very least we should check it out." Elemi said as he thought about it. If there were new colonist, they needed to defend them. "Alert the others. We'll head down and see what's going on."

* * *

An hour later, the seven Nova rangers returned, barely clinging on to their lives. It had been quite the unexpected trap. Just as Elemi thought, there had been no colony on Katron. It was full of lush forests with a few scattered signs of life. And one witch who was just waiting for her prey.

Rhianna had shown them the full power of the one crystal shard she carried. Never would he imagine that she had the powers she showed them. He worried for Earth, for Kim. He was afraid that Rhianna went after Kim first, and that after the rangers of Earth were destroyed she came looking for them. He couldn't imagine why she'd come after them first.

Either way he had to try and make contact with Kim. They'd have to travel, to get into range before Kim would be able to receive their message. But it was important to know if she and her team were alive and well, and it was more important to let her know what was coming.

The Nova rangers had been lucky. Lucky in the sense that no one died. But Kee, Jaxan and Xemmas had gone straight to the infirmary with life threatening injuries. They were stable now and he only hoped that they would make a quick recovery. After three teammates went down, he took Garan, Aaron and Pryce and they attacked viciously with everything they had. It was a fury of offence and eventually Rhianna left.

Whether or not they hurt her or she simply got bored with them, they didn't know. In the last few seconds she hadn't tried to fight back, while against the seven of them she pushed furiously. She'd simply took off. He counted that as a victory of sorts as he collected his rangers and headed back to the ship.

Elemi collapsed his aching body into his chair as he glanced at the remainder of his rangers. "Head toward Earth as quickly as possible. We must alert the others of what's going on."

They nodded and went to abide by his wishes. Hopefully soon they'd be able to contact Kim.

* * *

Kim found herself pushing a cart through the aisles of the grocery store as she thought about her day. She'd spent a while in the alternate dimension that morning speaking to K. They talked some about her recent adventure with Kemora before going back to Kim and the DG and her powers. It was nice talking to K, at the very least the other woman could sympathize with her.

Almost the moment she'd returned to her own time she had to turn around and leave for work. She barely made it on time, and didn't miss the dirty looks Sandy gave her as she rushed into her office. Once again Sandy griped to Ashley, and once again Ashley ignored her. After a busy day at work all she wanted to do was go home and collapse.

That's when she realized that she had absolutely no food at all in her apartment and if she didn't make it to the store she was going to spend her weekend eating bread sandwiches. Despite having no desire to make a stop, Kim found herself pulling into the store and rummaging through the aisles, tossing items in her cart every once in a while.

As she turned the corner she didn't have any time to react as her cart banged into another one. "I'm sorry." She apologized as she looked up at the woman pushing the other cart. She didn't try to hide her surprise as she realized who she hit.

"It happens." The blonde Australian replied as she gave an acquaintance a smile. She hadn't expected to run into Kim today, or any day for that matter, but in a way she was glad that she did. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Busy with work. And, you know, other stuff." Kim replied. No matter how awkward encounters with Kat were she'd be nice to her. It was Carri who sometimes couldn't hold her temper in check but Kim wondered if that had to do with the fact that some of Kat's actions and words baffled her and Carri was not one to hold her feelings in. She glanced over at Kat and noticed the small bundle whose seat had been shoved in the front of the cart. "How are you? And the baby?"

Kat glanced down at her daughter and beamed. "We're doing just fine." She replied as she picked her little girl up. Things had gotten so much better since she had the baby. Chris was working more now, and she'd be able to start back to work soon. Money was tight but it wasn't a problem at the moment. And even if it was, the baby brought so much joy into their lives that nothing else mattered.

Kim took a step closer to get a peak at Kat's newborn. She'd only seen the photos that had been passed around at the reunion. Kat glanced over at her as she realized she hadn't seen the baby in person. Not many of the rangers had. Carri had seen Denise briefly right after she was born, and Tanya and Adam stopped by the day after the reunion before they flew home. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Oh, um," Kim stammered a moment. It was kind of odd. But then again, the baby was absolutely adorable and she couldn't hold Denise accountable for all her mother's faults. "Sure." She replied as she took the baby from Kat's outstretched hands. She stared at the baby's face and couldn't help but notice that she got most of her mother's physical attributes. She would imagine Carri would be quite pleased with that. Chris had done a few moronic things in college that led Carri to suggest that he should be neutered to spare future generations from his stupidity. Of course she had to have gotten something from her father's DNA.

"I'm glad we ran into each other." Kat commented as she watched Kim ogle her child. Kim looked up at her curiously and Kat continued. "We do need to talk some, what with Carri's wedding coming up and everything we'll have to plan stuff for her."

"Right." Kim said slowly, giving the baby one final smile before passing her back to her mother. Kim watched as Kat gave Denise a kiss before strapping her back into her seat. As far as she knew Carri had no plans ask Kat to be a part of the wedding and she certainly didn't have any desire for them to be planning stuff for her.

Kat sensed the sarcasm in Kim's voice. She didn't blame her. She was sure that her cousin had already asked Kim to be in the wedding. And although she hadn't officially asked her yet, she knew she'd want her to be involved. After all, they were still family. She still wanted to try to mend things with Carri but it seemed as though every time they took one step forward, they took one step back and stayed at the same level of awkwardness with each other. Who knew if that would ever change. They both saw the world differently. But it didn't hurt to try.

"Anyway." Kat said with a smile. "I need to finish shopping so I can get back to Chris. I'm sure I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. Talk to you later." Kim replied, smiling back at her as much as she could. Walking back to her cart she started to push it away before heading down an aisle and continuing to toss things in. Her thoughts kept drifting back to running into Kat. If that wasn't odd, she didn't know what was. At least they could be civil with each other, something that proved to be harder than she thought after she moved back to Angel Grove all those years ago. It wasn't her fault that she started dating Tommy again after he broke up with Kat, or that she moved in with Carri and they became inseparable in college or even that she took her Zeo crystal when Kat gave it to her. And Kat didn't blame her, at least not aloud. Deep down Kim knew she held some sort of grudge and that was what made their relationship weird. That and everything that happened between Kat and Carri.

Kim sighed as she went down the last aisle, throwing a frozen dinner into her basket. Pushing her way to the front of the store, she found the shortest line and parked herself behind another customer. Quickly she started unloading all her items onto the belt. As she pulled out the last of her purchases, something caught her eye.

She thought this trip to the grocery store couldn't get any odder yet there it was. On the tabloid in front of her, in a little square in the corner, there was a picture of Carri and Rocky. Curiosity got the best of her and she grabbed it and started thumbing through looking for the article as the cashier started ringing her out. It talked about her engagement, and it wondered if it was convenient that she got engaged several weeks after the nasty article ran that called her a whore. There were several less than stellar comments, but at the very least it did say they were pretty sure that she was a one man woman now who was getting married to the love of her life the following summer.

"You gonna by that?" the young cashier asked as she glanced over at Kim. She was finished ringing her items and was ready to move on to the next customer.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Kim replied handing over the magazine. She figured she should show the article to Carri if she hadn't seen it already.

The girl took a look at the open article as she shut the magazine and scanned it. "I follow the tabloids." She said as Kim handed her a credit card. She went to scan the card then continued. "I think it's weird that one day Carri has, like, five boyfriends and the next day she's engaged. But she says she wasn't a slut so whatever." She commented as she handed Kim her card back, along with a slip to sign. "I'll bet she gets her daddy to throw her the wedding of the century. Huge ceremony with like, absolutely everything. She's probably stoked."

Kim snorted as she put her card and her receipt back into her wallet. Stoked wasn't exactly the word she'd use. Smiling at the cashier, she reached over to grab her bags. "Thanks." She said, declining to comment on Carri's life to this stranger. Shaking her head, she headed out of the grocery story. Today was turning out to be quite the interesting day.

* * *

A little while later Kat found herself putting Denise down in her crib before heading out to her kitchen to put away the groceries she'd brought home. She couldn't help but think of the day's shopping experience as she put things in cabinets.

It had been more than a little odd to run into Kim in the grocery store. She didn't know what possessed her to ask her to hold the baby. But despite the initial awkwardness Kim said yes and it seemed as though she enjoyed seeing Denise. Perhaps there was hope that they could one day put the past behind them and be friends again.

For that to happen though there was something she had to do first. As Kim was firmly on Carri's side, she was never going to truly be her friend again until she mended things with her cousin. And that was easier said than done. She wanted desperately to try, and she felt as though Carri was inclined to try as well. But neither woman was willing to change and that's where the difficulties came in.

Among other things Carri was opinionated, had quite the temper and was a ranger junkie. And Kat couldn't help the jealousy that arose when she thought of how one minute her parents were furious with her for taking off with no notice, and the next her dad is helping set her up to make more money than Kat would ever know what to do with. Although Kat wasn't sure exactly how Carri felt about her in general, she knew that her cousin disagreed with some of her decisions, but mostly she disagreed with everything involving Chris.

As she put the remainder of the groceries away, Kat thought about what she could do to at least work toward something. Although she couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't step forward and step back again, she could try talking to her. Maybe she should call her. But she wasn't sure what her reason would be. An update on Denise? Or maybe she could tell her about running into Kim.

Finishing up she leaned against the counter. If she debated whether or not to do it she knew she'd put it off until later. Mind made up, she grabbed the phone and dialed her cousin's cell. Three rings later a familiar voice answered on the other end.

"Hello?" Carri questioned. She had seen Kat's name flash across the caller ID and had debated whether or not to answer. She had a lot of work to finish up that was already putting her at coming home at a later hour. She never knew what Kat wanted when she called and she wasn't sure if a conversation with her was quite what she needed to make it through the day. But after the morning's discussion with Rocky, she thought she had a way to say hello and then make the conversation brief until later.

"Hey!" Kat greeted cheerfully.

"How are you and the baby doing?" Carri asked, purposefully leaving out inquiries about Chris.

"We're doing great. Denise seems to be getting bigger every day. You'll have to come over sometime and see her." Kat replied as she smiled at the receiver. "How are you doing?"

"Same old same old. Busy working and fighting the forces of evil and trying to squeeze everything else in between." Carri replied. Kat was up to the small talk again and that always made her suspicious. She had something on her mind and Carri was wondering when she'd get to the point. But if she was going to have her in her wedding she was going to have to make some sort of amends, so she'd bite her tongue and not push her to spill it.

Kat let out a small laugh. She declined to make any comment about fighting the forces of evil and moved on. "Guess who I ran into today?"

"Who?" Carri asked, wondering if this was the reason for Kat's phone call.

"Kim. I saw her at the grocery store." She replied.

For a moment Carri wondered if for some reason they stared world war three and that was why Kat was calling, but she was much to cheerful for someone who had just gotten into a fight. "Interesting." Was the only response she could think of.

"It was. I was glad to see her." Kat said. It was the reason she decided to pick up the phone and call her cousin, to try to start mending friendships. "She got to see the baby. It was nice."

"I'm sure." Carri replied, not knowing what else to say. It wasn't as though Kat called her often to have casual conversation, and she saw Kim enough that she didn't have any input about running into her randomly.

Silence settled over the conversation. It didn't take Carri long to realize whatever Kat was going to say, she wouldn't say any time soon. As she was ready to get back to work, she decided to redirect the conversation. "I was thinking maybe we could have lunch tomorrow to talk." Lunch was as good a time as any to ask her to be a bridesmaid.

"I'd love that!" Kat exclaimed. What possessed her to ask she didn't know but it was nice.

"We can meet at Bulkmeier's at noon." Carri continued. "Sadly though if I'm going to make it, I really have to get back to work."

"Yeah that's fine." Kat said, trying to contain her excitement. "So I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow it is." Carri replied.

Both girls said their goodbyes and Kat hung up the phone. She had made the right decision in calling her cousin. Maybe this was the first step toward reconnecting.

* * *

Emily stood in front of her full length mirror that evening as she held clothes up in front of herself. She would admit it, she was nervous. Part of her didn't understand why. It was just Jason after all. The man that took care of her when she first came to Angel Grove. The man who she loved and was comfortable around for years. The man who was giving her a second chance.

That was why she was nervous. She didn't want to blow it. After years of thinking that was a closed chapter in her life here she was with the ability to give it another shot. And she wanted it to be perfect. He was taking her to a fancy restaurant. And then from there who knew. It didn't matter though, whatever happened she was going to look her best for him.

Slipping on her chosen outfit, she thought about how there were still things for them to overcome. Although all was forgiven, their past still hung over their heads. They could forget about the past, and she knew they were both willing to, but it was going to take work. They had to rebuild trust in each other as boyfriend and girlfriend.

As she walked into the bathroom to finish getting ready she shook her head as she knew that the hardest thing to overcome wasn't their past. It was her personal demon that she'd have to cast aside. When they were younger, she didn't know what she was really getting into by dating Jason, not for the first year at least. Finding out she was dating a ranger was exciting, but it was also really hard. She worried about him constantly, and until he quit it put a strain on their relationship.

This time she was going into the relationship knowing what he did on the side. And knowing he was a ranger, she still wanted to commit to this relationship. She worried about Jason as his friend, but as his girlfriend it was worse. Any time a monster attacked, she sat on the edge of her seat until she got the "I'm ok" phone call. And if she happened to see a news report before she heard from Jason she panicked.

But that was who he was, and she'd have to accept that as part of him. She supposed it was no different from being with a police officer or a soldier. Always worrying, hoping that they'd come back alive. And silently praying that they'd want to make a career change. But being a ranger wasn't Jason's career, it was his leisurely activity. Not having been a ranger she didn't understand the appeal. Being on call all the time, the fighting, getting injured and watching your friends get injured, none of it sounded fun to her.

But he wanted to defend his planet, and if she was going to be his girlfriend again she'd have to support that a little better this time. No more openly wishing he'd retire his morpher. No more getting upset every time he had to run off to save the world. She would simply wish him a safe battle and be there for him when he came back.

Feeling somewhat satisfied with her appearance, Emily walked back out into the living room. As she dropped a few things into her purse there was a knock at the door. Walking up she looked into the peephole and saw her date standing on the other side. Taking a deep breath, she opened up the door and smiled. "Hey."

"Hello." Jason replied as he looked her over. He couldn't help but smile himself, she looked amazing. "Are you ready to go?"

"I am." Emily replied. She turned away from the door and headed back toward her purse, watching as Jason stepped inside and left the door slightly open.

"Nice place." Jason commented as he looked around. It was the first time he'd been over there. Usually when they spent time together they just met each other. It was easier that way.

"Thanks." Emily said as she picked her purse up and snatched her keys off the end table. She flashed him a smile. "Let's go."

Emily allowed Jason to lead her by the hand and lead her out of her apartment. She closed it behind her and locked it, allowing him to lead her once more as they headed down the stairs. She smiled to herself as he opened the car door for her and she climbed into the passenger's seat. She didn't know what the night would bring but she was excited to find out.

* * *

After quite the detour, Rhianna arrived back at her palace later that night. She'd had so much fun with the Nova rangers earlier. She wanted to stay and finish them off, but she'd taken out some of their teammates and they had gotten angry. She didn't think they could touch her powers but as furiously as they were attacking, she didn't want to find out.

Instead she headed home, making a few pit stops on the way to test her abilities. She had more than proven to herself that she could take the rangers out and she was ready to. The moment she arrived she marched straight up to Callisto.

"Was it a success?" the goddess asked.

"Of course. I had no problems with the Nova rangers." Rhianna replied.

Callisto found herself intrigued. "So they're dead?" She would almost be disappointed. After all, she wanted the joy in ending their lives. Of course she wanted to kill the rangers of Earth too, but that had proven to be more difficult over the years.

"I left them wounded." Rhianna replied with a smile. "I was ready to move on."

"Good." Callisto said, joy returning as she realized she'd have a shot at them as well.

"I think it's time to take over Earth." Rhianna replied, the thought of revenge bringing giddiness forward that she hadn't felt since before she lost Goldar.

"Not quite." Callisto said. She'd thought about this long and hard. She wanted to punish those rangers. Destroying them was just too easy. "If you really want revenge against those rangers for what happened to your parents, you should obtain the gem first."

Rhianna didn't know what to say. She was still upset with Callisto for destroying her only friend, and now here she was trying to prolong the one thing that would make her happy again. "I don't think it matters."

"Oh but it does." Callisto said with a smile. "Don't worry, it's a simple task and with your mastery of the crystal you should be able to find the gem in a matter of hours. It will quickly be second nature, enhancing your powers and opening them to new things. And by this time tomorrow you'll have your own castle on the middle of that planet, with the heads of your enemies on display as a reminder of what happens when the world tries to mess with you."

Rhianna did like that thought. And if the goddess was right, this would be a fairly simple task. She could follow Callisto's wishes one last time if it meant she could have the planet within twenty-four hours. "Ok." She said simply.

Callisto laughed. "I'll have Cratus take you. When you return, go to the surface. I'll follow and bring the Cirranadrones, and we'll see what those rangers think of that."

Rhianna laughed, finding herself just as amused by the situation as Callisto. She couldn't wait. Quickly she went to find Cratus. The thought that soon she would have the entire planet in her hands was enough to make her skip through the halls.


	23. Cause and Effect

**Disclaimer:** You guys know the drill. Power Rangers are Disney's, Callisto is Universal's, K and all things pertaining to her world are KSuzie's, the rest is mine.  
**Author's Notes:** Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. As always reviews are appreciated. And I hope you all have a happy valentines day :)

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Cause and Effect"

It was early Saturday morning and Kim found herself driving toward Carri's house. The morning was going to be used to visit friends, and she wanted to start by speaking with Carri privately and showing her the tabloid article. That and since Rocky was gone helping his brother, Kim could talk freely about their adventure and her previous day's conversation with K.

Kim quickly approached the house and pulled into the driveway. Grabbing the paper she headed out of the car and let herself in. Migrating through the house she found Carri sitting at the kitchen table. "Hey." Kim greeted, detouring to fix herself a cup of the coffee as it immediately got her attention with its scent was permeating through the house.

"Good morning." Carri replied, not looking up from her laptop. She was trying to catch up on emails that she'd ignored the previous day before she spent most of her Saturday bouncing around between people. She glanced up briefly at Kim as she sat down with a cup of coffee in hand.

Kim smiled at her as she sat down. She wasn't sure what to start with, but finally she decided to go ahead and let Carri get out her feelings on the tabloid before moving to another subject. She wasn't sure how exactly one began a conversation that ended with your in the tabloids again but she thought she'd give it her best shot. "So… I went to the grocery store yesterday."

"So I heard." Carri replied pushing her laptop aside for the moment and wondering if she wanted to come by to talk about running into Kat, much like Kat had wanted to discuss running into her. Kim looked at her curiously and Carri elaborated. "Kat called me to tell me she ran into you. She sounded quite… pleased about the encounter."

"Oh, yeah." Kim said slightly surprised, having all but forgotten that part of her trip. "I saw the baby. And we chatted a bit. I think Kat wants to reconnect so she can help with your wedding or something."

"About that." Carri said with a sigh. She wasn't completely positive that asking Kat was the best idea, but it was certainly the right one. "We're having lunch today, I'm going to ask her to be a bridesmaid."

"Oh?" Kim questioned, slightly taken back. Last time it was brought up, Carri didn't even want to discuss the possibility. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"My mother." Carri replied as she made a face. "She's going to be a pain in my ass as it is, and it's much simpler to ask Kat than to have to deal with the repercussions. Besides, Kat keeps talking about amends so we'll see."

"I'm sure things will go fine for your wedding." Kim seriously doubted that Kat would do anything to ruin Carri's wedding despite the differences they'd had over the years.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed." Carri replied. She had given it some thought since she spoke to Kat the previous afternoon and the way she saw it there were two scenarios. One involved things going off without a hitch. The other, not so much. "Or she's still pissed at me for not making her wedding and she'll use this opportunity to plot her evil revenge. In which case you'll have to use all your little Muirantian powers to hold me back." Nothing would make her angrier than Kat still holding a grudge against her for going off to save the world and plotting against her because of it.

Kim rolled her eyes. Besides the fact that she couldn't imagine Kat plotting revenge, let alone at Carri's wedding, she couldn't see Carri really physically harming her because of it. Although that didn't stop the scenarios from popping into her mind and she couldn't help but grin. Carri scowled at her and she changed the subject. "Anyway that's not the part of the trip I was referring to. I thought you'd want to see this."

Without bracing her for it Kim simply handed her the tabloid, putting her finger on the picture of Carri and Rocky as she pushed it across the table. Carri picked it up with a loud grunt before she started thumbing harshly through it. "If this is another whore article somebody is gonna pay."

"It's not." Kim said. Not entirely anyway. There was reference to her being a whore before but that wasn't the central theme of the article.

There was silence as Carri read the article and made faces. Eventually she closed it and threw it forcibly on the table. "You know." She started as she shook her head and took a deep breath. "I suppose I should be grateful that they're saying I'm a one man woman now. Although I wish they'd stop tossing around the w word."

"So I assume nobody brought this to your attention yet?" Kim asked, surprised by the relatively calm reaction she was getting from her friend.

"If dad saw it, which I'm sure he did, he didn't think it was worth passing along." Carri replied with a shrug.

Kim glared at her for a moment. "You're not gonna go postal on me?" She had to make sure Carri was not a pot ready to boil over at any second.

"Not this time. Josh gave me some good advice." Carri replied. She had consulted with him several times since the first article ran. And he said unless it was completely untrue she'd have to get over it. If she was appearing in a tabloid it meant she was doing pretty damn good for herself, even if what they were saying wasn't flattering.

Josh let them run the party boy articles and the player articles and it was a very rare instance that he got upset over what they were saying. Carri told herself she'd work to adopt her brother's way of thinking. Although the reference to her being a whore made her want to go tear the writer a new one, she had to keep telling herself at least they cared enough to write something. It was the only line of thinking that kept her anger at bay. Her brother promised her that eventually she'd get used to it and the anger wouldn't even surface. Carri figured she had a long wait for that day.

"That's great." Kim replied with a smile. She noticed Carri's fist sitting on the table as it clenched and unclenched itself and she knew that her friend had some less than stellar thoughts. She didn't know what Josh had said to her and she was surprised that it was keeping her from exploding but she was glad.

Kim started to sip her coffee and eventually Carri started to do the same. Once the tension seemed to dissolve from her friend she launched into the other topic she wanted to discuss that morning, her conversation with K.

* * *

Jason sat on his back porch, waiting for the ambush that he knew was coming. He shouldn't have told Carri that he was officially taking Emily out last night. Her knowing was bad enough, but then she filled Kim in and the two girls were making an event out of it. The dynamic duo was a huge part of his life and he couldn't imagine not having them around, but sometimes they drove him absolutely insane.

They insisted that they get all the details of the date and he reminded them that dishing on dates was a women thing. To which Kim responded, "that's why we have to know". They were always interested in his girlfriends, but their interest was more casual. They didn't need an exact recap of the girl or the night.

This was different, and as irritating as it was he did get it. They insisted on seeing him in the morning and they wanted to know everything. This was Emily, the girl who broke his heart years ago and the girl who had kept him twisted up and confused the last few months. He knew what they were doing. They wanted to stay on top of this go round, taking notes and making comparisons to the last time. He knew they wouldn't hesitate to pounce if they thought things were going to take a turn for the worst.

He had told himself if things didn't work out he wouldn't let Emily crush him again. Of course telling yourself and actually following through were two different things but he really didn't believe that things would go down the same way this time. Carri and Kim were obviously not ones to agree with him. Carri had told him that she believed in the one strike rule where cheating was concerned but she'd bite her tongue until Emily opened the door for them to jump.

Jason sighed as he heard the doorbell ring. He declined to get up an answer it. It was no secret who it was and he knew that they'd just let themselves in. The doorbell rang once more and a few seconds later he heard the front door slam. It didn't take long for him to have two visitors out on his porch. Kim and Carri made themselves comfortable and smiled at him.

"How did it go?" Carri quickly jumped into the subject she and Kim were so anxious to discuss.

"What?" Jason questioned, smiling as he shook his head. "Not even a hello?"

"Hey Jase, how are you?" Kim asked, not waiting for him to respond before she continued. "How did your date go last night?"

Jason simply rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh before he answered. "It went well."

"Well? Seriously? Dish up. Start from the beginning." Carri said. They most certainly did not come over there for well.

"Alright. I picked her up at seven. She was smoking hot." He paused, watching as it was the girls turn to roll their eyes. He thought about playing the looks card a little more, but he knew he'd get them again before the conversation was over. "I took her to a really nice restaurant. Do you need to know what we ate?" he asked dryly.

"Did she order the most expensive thing on the menu?" Kim questioned with a grin. She could honestly care less, but it was fun to dig in on Jason. He shook his head no. "Continue on then."

"I paid, an amount that's none of your business," he quickly spoke before they could even think to formulate that question, "then we walked around for a while and talked."

"What did you talk about?" Carri asked. This wasn't a typical first date. They already knew everything about each other, they already knew what the other had done since college, that didn't leave much to walk and talk about.

"About us, about the future." Jason replied with a shrug.

Kim's eyes grew wide at the mention of the future. "You're not already talking about getting married are you?"

"No." Jason replied, quickly squashing that thought. Marriage was far from his mind. He wasn't even certain whether or not this would work out this time around, let alone if he'd marry her. "We didn't talk about our future, we talked about the future, there's a difference."

"Oh." Kim replied, relief showing in her voice. She didn't care how well the first date went, she wasn't going to let her friend jump that far ahead with Emily yet. "So you took her home after that."

"To my home." Jason said, his sly grin not escaping either of the girls.

Carri rolled her eyes and shook her head. "For sex?" Although she couldn't really say anything, when she and Rocky got back together it was the first thing they did. But they did back off for a while after the first time in order to get back to the relationship part.

"To drink in naked in the hot tub." Jason corrected her as he sat back and crossed his arms, a self satisfied look on his face.

Carri threw her arms up in the air. "What's the difference?"

Jason laughed at his friend. "Car if you don't know the difference between sex and sharing a hot tub we've got a real problem."

Kim smiled as Carri made a frustrated sound. "I'm just saying that you were hanging out naked on your first date so what does it matter what you were or weren't doing."

"First for the record it was Emily's idea." Jason said with a grin. At least kind of. It was his idea to have a drink and she was interested in the hot tub so he figured why not. "Second, it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. And third, you're an idiot."

Jason quickly blocked Carri's lame attempt to take a swing at him as he laughed and she huffed. Kim grinned at the both of them before urging Jason to continue the story. "Anyway I assume you took her home after that?"

"Yes. Without sex. But maybe next time though." Jason said in order to watch their reaction. The looks and the eye movements were about what he expected. "Seriously it was good. We started to reconnect."

"It sounds like she passed the first date." Carri said with a serious expression on her face as Kim nodded in agreement.

"Yes because your approval means so much to me." Jason replied, not hiding the sarcasm.

"You're always coming to us for approval." Kim pointed out.

"Advice and approval are two different things." Jason was quick to remind her. Although really if it came down to it, he didn't know what he'd do if they hated his girlfriend. It had never been an issue before and he'd never really thought about it.

As he looked at the girls he realized they were seriously contemplating how they were going to respond. To keep from launching into that conversation he changed the subject. "So now that I've shared, how are your love lives going? I do have another book due."

"And that's our cue to leave." Carri said as she and Kim stood, looking disgusted as they walked back into the house. Although Jason still knew a lot about their love lives, neither wanted to directly give him anything for his Luke Kirk books.

Jason chuckled as he watched them chatter as they closed the porch door. At least they were off of the Emily topic for now. They weren't really going to leave and he'd give them a minute before he chased after them. He grinned to himself. After last night, things were certainly starting to look better for him.

* * *

Billy sat in the Command Chamber, hard at work. He couldn't help but think about how his life, how the lives of the rangers were anything but normal. Like the rest of society they all had cycles of work, eating and sleeping. But for the most part that was the extent of their normality. The rest of the world got to go home and put in time with their spouses or children or bachelorhood or whatever the case may be. They relaxed on nights and weekends with friends and family.

What they didn't have to do was worry about literally saving the world. They didn't divide their time between stressing about work and stressing about when the final battle against the newest evil would be and whether or not they'd all survive. They didn't spend their Saturday's developing weapons instead of taking their wives on weekend getaways.

Billy was lucky that Trini was his wife, that she was a former ranger and that she understood. He knew why Jason had so much trouble with relationships. The people around you had to know, to understand what was going on and why you were needed for you to be able to keep pieces of a normal life. And it wasn't just your significant other. It extended to family you spent a lot of time with, friends you had nightly beers with, even into the workplace.

It was why rangers only had solid relationships with other rangers, why they hardly saw their families, and why their best friends were rangers. This team was lucky that those that weren't essentially their own bosses worked for former rangers, or in Tommy's case a former evil doer who understood the importance of rangers.

Billy sighed as he turned his focus to the task back at hand. Their lives weren't normal but they all wanted to save the world. And maybe he couldn't take Trini away for the weekend, but the time he was going to spend that afternoon taking her out for a late lunch would be just as good. Until that time arrived he would continue to help the team.

What he was working on was important, he wouldn't be putting in all the hours if it wasn't. He was trying to put together a weapon that would separate Rhianna from her powers, at least temporarily, to give the rangers a fighting chance when she returned. It was tinkered with enough to disrupt the crystal in theory but now he wasn't so sure that would be good enough.

The information that he received on the previous day forced him to look at his weapon differently. Although no one knew the specifics, it was confirmed that there was a way that Rhianna could use another source to enhance the power of her crystal. He didn't know what it involved but he did know that separating Rhianna from her power source was going to take more than what he had.

There were two pieces to the puzzle he had to work out. The first one was surprisingly the easier of the two and it was the piece that he'd almost completed. Before, the weapon was able to separate the crystal from Rhianna. He was now working on reconfiguring it so that the crystal would separate from the secondary power source first and Rhianna second. If he didn't make sure that he could pull the two power sources and Rhianna apart from each other he couldn't be sure that Rhianna wouldn't retain some of the powers, still being able to attack the rangers and taking away their window to stop her. Of course there was no guarantee this was going to work in the first place.

Billy was hoping to get those configurations taken care of before the end of the day. Then he could concentrate on the second piece of the puzzle, the one that was looking close to impossible to fix. A weapon of this magnitude needed a large power source in order to be able to draw enough energy to complete its task. The morphing grid alone would not be enough to power it. The weapon was set up to pull the energy it needed from the five power coins. Before that wasn't a problem and it wouldn't affect the morphed rangers. Now that the difficulty of the primary task was exponentially increased, the power needed was exponentially increased as well. As it stood now, it would pull so much power from the coins in order to fire one shot that it would force the rangers to power down until the coins recovered their energy. Whether it was a few seconds or a few minutes, it was long enough to get the team killed.

The task ahead wouldn't be easy but it was something that had to be done, and something that Billy planned on devoting his time to until it was finished. He stepped back and hooked the weapon up to a machine and started running tests on it to see how well he was coming along with the first set of changes.

As he watched the results start to load into the computer he heard the communications signal go off from the main room. He made his way out of his lab and down the corridor until he came to the center of the command base. Quickly he cued up the oncoming signal and was greeted by Elemi's face.

"Contact your team." Elemi spoke quickly, hoping that he wasn't too late. They had taken an unwelcomed detour when they ran into Jakar's forces several hours ago. "We must speak immediately. Your lives are in grave danger."

* * *

After spending an interesting morning in Jason's house, Carri found herself pulling into Bulkmeier's parking lot where she was going to spend her lunch hour with her cousin. She cut the engine off and sat in the driver's seat, gathering herself before she went inside to play nice.

Between the conversation with Jason and the tabloids it had already been a weird morning. She wasn't sure if she was in the right frame of mind to sit there with Kat and have a casual lunch. But she would will herself to, no matter what was said, smile and be nice and above all, not lose her temper. Of course that was much easier said than done. They hadn't really talked much since right after the baby was born and although no tempers were raised; their last conversation was quite cold.

Carri took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, plastering a smile on her face as she walked into the front door. She found herself promptly greeted by Skull. As they exchanged hello's, Carri looked around the restaurant. "Have you seen my cousin?"

"She's sitting outside. She told me to point you in her direction when you got here." Skull replied as he took a step and gestured for Carri to follow. They wound through the tables and he led her to the patio door, opening it up for her and pointing toward Kat.

"Thanks." Carri said, flashing Skull a brief smile. As weird as the dynamic duo was in high school, it was always cool to come into the restaurant and see Bulk or Skull.

"No problem." Skull replied before disappearing back into the interior of the restaurant. As he walked back in he couldn't help but wonder what their conversation was going to be about. In the nine months she had been having lunches there he could maybe recall one or two being with Kat. He always wondered what happened between them after high school.

Carri watched him exit before walking over and taking a seat across from her cousin. "Hey."

"Hello." Kat replied smiling at her cousin as their waitress approached. "How are you?"

"Fine." She answered briefly before giving the waitress her drink order. As the waitress left she continued. "How have you been?" They'd essentially been through this conversation the day before, but Carri wasn't quite ready to jump into the topic at hand.

"Good." Kat spoke slowly as she thought about what to say next. "I've got one more week as a stay at home mom. I'm going back to the studio next week." She was really excited. She missed the dance students and the recitals. She was going to spend part of the next week catching herself back up and then it was back to work.

"That will be good. I'm sure you missed work." Although Carri never really talked to Kat about her job long enough to know how she felt about it one way or the other.

"I did. It will be great to go back." Kat replied. She wanted to say so much to her cousin but she wasn't sure what topic to approach next. So she continued on discussing work. "I assume you got everything finished at work yesterday?"

"For the most part." Carri said as she thought about it. She always got everything done for the most part. Because truthfully her work was never done. A lot more went into what she did than she would have ever thought nine months ago. It didn't take long for her to realize that her father flat out lied when he said she'd be no busier running Ausus than she was as a reporter. But even with all that she loved her job, and it was as much fun as it was hard work.

Their waitress returned and placed their drinks down in front of them. The two cousins glanced briefly at their menus before placing their orders. As she left to put the food in Kat and Carri found themselves sitting in silence.

Carri stirred sweetener into her tea and thought for a moment. Lunch was going alright so far, but she really had no clue where it would go from here. Thinking for a moment she decided it was better to go ahead and get the part she needed to take care of over with. "So." She stated as she took her spoon out of her class and set it on the table. "I'm sorry for not telling you about the engagement earlier." It was as good a way to open up the conversation as any. Although she wasn't sure how sorry she really was, but she figured she'd throw Kat a bone.

"It's ok." Kat replied. It wasn't worth starting a fight with her cousin over. Deep down she was still upset that she didn't even make her list of people who should know. Although apparently she hadn't told her parents or her brother, just a few select rangers who she saw on a regular basis. Still that didn't make it alright. But there were no doubts where that conversation would go if she tried to start it.

"Anyway," Carri started, rushing to get to the point before Kat decided to change her mind about it being ok, "I figured, you know, we are cousins, and we were so close growing up, I'd like for you to be a bridesmaid." That was the partial truth anyway. It would be good enough.

"Of course!" Kat exclaimed although it came as no surprise. "I'm glad you officially asked. I've already been through this and I can help you pick dresses and flowers and we can work out all the little details."

Carri was somewhat confused by Kat's wording. She officially asked? It wasn't as though she had hinted to her or anyone else she was asking before. "Yeah, sure." She finally replied. Not like she wanted to go through and be the happy-go-lucky bride and pick out all the details with anyone, let alone Kat. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do. Although Rocky had his opinions, he wasn't going to set up all the details. She was seriously contemplating hiring a wedding planner and letting her take care of practically everything while she and Rocky simply put their stamp of approval on it all.

"I'm sure you're overwhelmed with it all. I know that I was." Kat said. At least overwhelmed was what she thought that tone was. "Your mum said you were behind on a summer wedding and you hadn't begun to consult with her on what to do."

Carri rolled her eyes. She didn't plan on consulting with her mom for much of anything but she knew she'd stick her fingers into it. She doubted she cared about her marrying Rocky, but she knew her mother would see it as a Hillard wedding event and that it would literally have to be picture perfect.

Kat smiled at her before continuing. "I told her I'd be glad to help you get started and she said that was great since I was a going to be a bridesmaid."

"She said what?" Carri questioned, sitting straight up and starting to take deep breaths as her temper rose.

Kat heard Carri's foot start tapping under the table as she sat up but she ignored the signs and continued cheerfully discussing the issue. "She said you'd get around to asking me on your timetable but she wanted to make sure I knew I was going to be a bridesmaid. And that I could start looking into stuff. Of course I hadn't had much time yet, but it was nice of her."

"Nice?" Carri said with a hiss that startled her cousin. She had to keep reminding herself that she could not get mad at Kat, that this was not Kat's fault, but she found herself wanting to seriously throttle her mother. It was quite obvious that her mother was going to try to have her way where her wedding was concerned. At least she decided to ask Kat, that was one fight they weren't going to have. But she knew her mother and knew that there were going to be many more battles to come. She tried to will herself to calm down so she wouldn't go off on Kat. "It was very nice of her." She said through clinched teeth.

"It was." Kat agreed. She didn't quite understand her cousin's reaction. She supposed it had something to do with her mother, but she didn't quite get what harm was caused. She watched as Carri closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, looking a bit more pulled together when she opened them. Kat smiled and was getting ready to continue a pleasant conversation when Carri's communicator went off.

"Of course." Carri muttered. Not that there was ever an ideal time to have to run off to save the world but they seemed to really like to interrupt her when she was supposed to be with Kat. Although truthfully she was interrupted as much with everyone, it was only with Kat that it seemed as though it was a catastrophe. She stood up and smiled at her cousin. "Will you excuse me?"

Carri didn't wait long enough to hear Kat's "of course" before she took off. Kat sat at the table and watched her disappear around the corner, wondering what was going on. She supposed she was the only one who noticed the faint yellow streak go through the air as her cousin teleported away. She hadn't heard the monster alarm and she couldn't help but wonder what was going on. But she couldn't get mad. This was a part of Carri, and she had to try to deal with her cousin's desire to run off and save the world. Even if it meant interrupting their lunch.

* * *

Kim sat rhythmically tapping her foot and waiting for what felt like eons for the last member of their team to arrive. She was anxious to hear what Elemi had to say. He had already expressed his relief that she was still alive. Which of course was followed by Tommy's mumblings of how when addressing the team he only addressed its pink ranger and was only concerned for the pink ranger's safety.

He claimed he felt disrespected by a fellow leader but no one that could hear him was fooled. His friends new his irritation had nothing to do with the color of the ranger Elemi was addressing but instead had to do with the feelings that Elemi expressed toward that ranger who also happened to be his girlfriend. Tommy was never happy to hear from Elemi and Kim didn't know how to handle the situation. It wasn't like Kim was going to tell him "although this is your concerned and we'd all be dead if not for you, go away". Of course she knew Tommy well enough to know that a simple "get over it" wasn't the answer either as his jealousy had grown exponentially in the last ten years.

As the yellow streak flew into the Command Chamber, Kim let out a sigh of relief. "So what's going on?" She asked, her focus going strictly toward whatever crisis Elemi called to inform them of.

"I suppose you haven't seen Rhianna lately." Elemi stated, noting that they were much too laid back for rangers who had felt her wrath.

"Not in a few weeks." Tommy replied, taking a step forward to stand next to Kim. Although Kim was a red on another team, he wanted to make sure Elemi knew which ranger was leading this conflict. "Not since she short circuited and took off."

"Rhianna is no longer short circuiting. She has quite the hold on her powers." Elemi paused as the rangers on the screen in front of him looked up at him curiously. "My team and I have had firsthand experience. She lured us to another planet to attack."

"Is everyone alright?" Kim asked. Regardless of what Tommy thought, she cared a great deal for the Nova team. They were crucial to the battle she led a year ago and she got to know them well.

"We barely escaped." Elemi replied solemnly. "We didn't defeat her. Those of us still standing were in the middle of a fierce attack when she took off. Perhaps she thought she'd done enough damage, or she was bored, it's hard to say for sure. I do know we did not damage her. If she hadn't left on her own free will, I can't promise I would be here with you now having this conversation."

The rangers took a minute to let that sink in. "Thank you Elemi for the warning. We have a lot of work to do." Tommy said, ready to quickly end the transmission.

"I imagine she's on her way to use her powers against you." Elemi spoke quickly so he could get their attention before Tommy cut him off. "We had to come along way to make this transmission. It would be no problem to continue on to Earth to offer our assistance."

"Thank you." Kim said with a smile. "If she's as tough as you say she is, any assistance would be appreciated." It was no secret that Tommy wouldn't like that idea but she didn't care. Any extra ranger was always a good thing.

"You're welcome." Elemi replied, returning her smile with one of his own. "We will be there as soon as possible." As he finished speaking he ended the transmission.

The screen went blank and Tommy crossed his arms over his chest. Jason noticed his friend looking as though he had something to say. "Now what?" Jason quickly blurted out before Tommy got a chance to speak against letting the Elemi help.

"I don't know." Kim replied shaking her head. "If Callisto and Rhianna attack…"

"Dammit." Carri swore as all eyes turned toward her. "If Callisto's playing puppet master to someone with that much power…. Well we won't be able to deter her if she's winning."

Rocky shook his head. He was suddenly very glad that the Nova's were coming to assist them. If Rhianna had enough power to take them all out, Callisto would certainly turn all her focus on Carri. He found himself with an overwhelming urge to protect her. She was too independent to ever openly let him and she was a good enough ranger that he didn't need to. But his thoughts were flashing back to college, to the day he thought Callisto had taken her away from him, and despite all the circumstances surrounding that day it nearly killed him and it wasn't a feeling he ever wanted to go through again. "There has to be something we can do."

Tommy brought himself back into leader mode, shifting thoughts of Elemi aside for the moment. "If we can separate Callisto and Rhianna somehow." He said as he shook his head. "With that much power though I have no clue how we'd even begin to try."

"Maybe I can send one of them away." Kim suggested. She was thinking of the day they first met K, and how she'd swept Callisto into a portal destined for the Island of Illusion. She thought she could duplicate that, but there was no telling how temporary of a solution that was. They could return in seconds or days.

Carri thought about Kim's Muirantian powers and had a brief flash to their trip to K's world. She remembered standing in the assembly and being handed a containment orb to look after. She clearly remembered the evil that the orb successfully contained. Perhaps that was the answer they were looking for. "What about a containment orb like K had? You can do that, right?" She asked turning toward Kim.

Kim looked at her curiously for a moment as she thought about it. She had never tried, but if K could do it, there was no reason why she couldn't learn. "I can try. If we can trap Callisto in an orb before Rhianna attacks, that's one less factor we have to worry about." Taking one of them out before they were reunited was the simplest way to go. They might as well start with Callisto. Besides, she was a goddess and they couldn't kill her, trapping her was their best solution.

"I don't know how much time we have." Tommy cautioned. It was a good idea but Rhianna could return any minute and then any chance they had was blown.

"I can bend time." Kim reminded him. They hadn't really spoke much of it since before the reunion. Tommy had managed to hold off any questions and she had declined to elaborate. But now was a good a time as any. "I'll go look for the orb. Depending on what I have to do I should be able to make it back in five, ten minutes. That would give you guys time to work on plan B which hopefully won't be needed."

"Great I say you give it a shot." Carri quickly spoke up. She wasn't about to give Tommy a chance to backtrack on the time bending concept or searching for the orb, which he didn't seem so thrilled with in the first place. "Plus if we bump Callisto out, Rhianna is young enough we might just throw her off. It would be a bonus advantage."

"I agree." Kim said as she prepared to teleport herself. She was grateful that Carri jumped in before Tommy could ask any questions. "I'll be back." She said as she quickly teleported herself off.

Tommy was a bit frustrated that all this just happened around him and no one let him give any input. Regardless of the collective experience this team had he was still its leader and at the very least he should get a say in the matter. It was especially hard when Kim was making decisions and running off to do stuff that worried him to death. Tommy sighed and turned toward the rest of his team. "We need to figure plan B out." If Kim failed, they couldn't go into battle without it.

Billy looked over the ranger team as he realized that there was a good chance that he wasn't going to have enough time to do all he needed to do. At the very least he could try to finish the first part of the puzzle. The power source, the more complex part, he'd deal with as it came up. "I'm going to go work on something while you guys think this through. If you need me page me."

Tommy watched as Billy left. Whatever he was working on couldn't possibly be relevant. And if it was, he really wished Billy would fill him in so he could incorporate it into their plan. But he had to pretend as though it didn't matter. And he had to pretend as though Kim's adventure didn't matter. What mattered now was that he and the rest of the team put their heads together in order to figure out a way to stop Callisto and Rhianna.

* * *

Kim frowned as she looked at the orb she held in her hands. She had no clue how to use it. Dulcea hadn't been any help. Her knowledge was limited to what it was with no tips on how to get one or use one. There was only one being she knew that had any clue and that was K. She hated to be a nuisance but she found herself with not much choice, this next battle depended on it.

Mind made up Kim found herself once again travelling to K's world and seeking her out. The moment she arrived K looked at her curiously, half expecting her to say that she'd already been called on by the DG again. K was a bit taken back when Kim reached out and extended the hand with the orb in it.

"Where did you get that?" K questioned as she walked over toward Kim.

Kim smiled briefly. "Let's just say I found it." In finding it she had done some things she didn't want to talk about. She'd had to get information out people she usually wouldn't deal with in ways that she didn't want to go into. She learned that there was an evil sorcerer more powerful than anyone she had ever crossed who had a few orbs he kept just in case he needed to contain someone. She had to break in and get one, and should she be unsuccessful she'd most likely be spending the rest of eternity trapped in one. It was difficult and took almost a year of planning to accomplish.

K peered into the orb in order to examine its contents. "Who's in here?" She asked, although surprisingly she couldn't see anyone.

"No one yet." Kim said simply. "The plan is to put Callisto in there. I just can't figure out how."

K couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her lips. She had a few hundred years on this Kim and she had only managed to trap someone once. And although she had wanted to trap him before he could trap her, she had no clue how she actually did it. There were a lot of factors combined and she had been working on how to repeat them again.

Kim tried not to show her confusion toward K's reaction as she continued. "I know you have experience with containment orbs. I was hoping you could tell me how to use one. I can't seem to figure it out."

"I've contained someone once." K informed her as she thought back to her encounter with Netau. "I have an idea how to put the pieces back together but I haven't tried it yet and I wouldn't even begin to know how to show you."

Kim frowned. She put a lot of work into getting that orb and she wasn't about to let it go to waste. "Do you think you could trap someone in it?" She asked as the wheels started turning.

"I could certainly try." K said as she thought about it. She had done a lot of thinking on the matter recently and she'd love an opportunity to see if her theories were right.

"Will you come back to my world and trap Callisto?" Kim asked making eye contact with K. She needed her. She doubted the others had come up with any other way to separate the duo and that was key to having any sort of advantage in this battle.

K contemplated whether or not this was actually a good idea. She finally decided on the best answer. "I'll help you. But you should be aware that there's a chance I won't be able to do this. Do you have any sort of backup plan?"

"I left the others in charge of that so," Kim paused, holding up her hand and crossing her fingers, "we'll find out when we return."

"Alright." K said giving her a nod. "Let's go see what they've got."

* * *

When they arrived they found the rest of Kim's team standing around with Rocky looking annoyed, Jason slightly amused and Carri and Tommy arguing with each other. "What is going on here?" Kim asked, all heads snapping toward her and K.

"Your man doesn't agree with any of my ideas." Carri said in a huff, briefly looking toward K. "And you've been gone a half hour, what took so long?"

Tommy spoke up, ignoring Carri's question toward Kim and going back to their debate on what plan B would be. "Because you're ideas aren't feasible. No one in their right mind would agree with you." Carri had been really coming up with some off the wall things she thought they could try should Kim come home empty handed. And although they were interesting in theory, he had no idea how she planned on even attempting to pull them off and he had argued with her about every one of them.

Carri turned briefly toward Tommy. "You're just being too practical. You have to think outside the box." She said before crossing her arms and snapping her gaze back toward Kim. "Kim would agree with me."

Kim shook her head. After being gone over a year to get this orb she wanted nothing more than to dive back into the situation at hand and get it taken care of. Briefly she glanced toward Jason. "Has this been going on since I left?

Jason smirked. "Only the last twenty minutes or so." He was rather enjoying their conversation. He knew there were serious issues that need to be taken care of, but at the same time this would make for great comic relief in his next book.

"Did you guys come up with anything useful?" She said glaring back and forth from Tommy to Carri.

Tommy would have been amused by Kim's look if it weren't for the severity of the situation. He took a breath and pulled himself back into leader mode before answer. "The best, most sane idea we had was you banishing Callisto much like K did before and hoping she doesn't find her way back."

"Great." Kim replied with a sigh. If K couldn't get the orb to work she'd contemplate hearing Carri out on some of the ideas Tommy wasn't so fond of. She didn't want there to be a chance of Callisto coming back any time soon. "I've got the orb." She said extending her hand out to show the others.

The team took a step forward to glance at it, K's warnings to Carri that they could only touch one with a morphed hand floating in the back of their minds as no one got too close. Rocky looked away from the orb, looking between K and Kim. "And you brought K?" He questioned. He was just glad they were here. He didn't want to listen to Carri and Tommy argue any more over what to do. It was driving him insane.

"She's the key to getting this to work." Kim told him as everyone's focus shifted from the orb to K.

"I think I can get it to work." K corrected. She didn't want them to think she was their solid solution. "I've done it once before, but I think you should still be ready with a backup plan." She added. She wasn't going to mention that the only time she has done it that wasn't truly on purpose to the rest of the team. Tommy would probably have a fit.

Tommy sighed. This was not going close to what he had planned and he was tempted to scrap the whole idea and just take the duo on and see what happens. "I don't know if the orb is going to be effective. How are we going to do it? Ask her to come on down so maybe K can trap her?"

Kim crossed her arms. She did not go through all this trouble to be shot down by a skeptical Tommy. She understood how he felt. That this was important, that they would probably only get one shot and they needed to use it on something that would work. But this was their best shot, and she really felt as though they would be successful. "We need to lure Callisto out and let K stay back and trap her."

"I doubt she's going to come down to the surface even if we morph and try to get her attention. It would have to be something really special to get her to come down and stick around." Jason pointed out. Callisto was quite fickle and their simply parading around on the surface may or may not be enough to entice her to take care of the matter herself.

"She won't come down to the surface unless it suits her plans." Carri agreed. She knew Callisto well, she knew what would get her attention. Under the right circumstances she would get her attention. But her walking around on the surface wouldn't get her attention. She was on the surface daily. "We'd get her attention on the moon. At least I would. Unmorphed. If I challenged her to come to me. Then K could work from a distance while I distracted Callisto."

"That's not a good idea." Rocky quickly jumped in. Sometimes he just wanted to smack some sense into Carri. She felt so damn responsible when it came to Callisto and she didn't hesitate to volunteer to put her life on the line if she thought it could fix something. The thought that she would be so out in the open like that in front of Callisto made him sick.

"He's right you could get yourself killed." Tommy chimed in. He didn't like the idea that one of his team members would sacrifice their lives over this. Besides the obvious reasons against a suicide mission, it won't help in the battle against Rhianna if they're down one ranger.

Carri snorted, obviously amused as Kim quickly shot her a look. Carri threw her hands up out of aggravation. "Come on guys I know her better than anyone. She's not going to want to just fry me she thinks she owes me more than that. And I know how to push her buttons. I can keep her going until K can work her magic. I can morph, we'll fight, it will be easy."

"I'll stay hidden nearby." Kim promised. She agreed with Carri's idea but she wished that her friend would be a little more sympathetic to the others concerns. They were never going to agree if she continued to so obviously shrug them off. "Callisto won't be looking for me and if Carri needs me I can morph and attack."

"I'll sneak around as Kemora, to protect my identity from her minions." K started. She wanted to make sure they knew she wouldn't go in there as herself. Although she knew the rangers would protect the orb anything could happen, and she didn't want Callisto getting out in her lifetime and coming after her. "You'll have to keep her distracted though I'm going to have to get close. It could get messy if she sees me before I get the orb going."

"Trust me she won't take her eyes off of me." Carri assured her. She had no doubts as to what was going to happen up there.

"Once we have her I'll hide the orb and we can start to prepare for Rhianna." Kim finished rounding off their plan. She was sure it had kinks, but it was as good as they were going to get in this limited amount of time.

"I don't think this is the best course of action." Tommy said. There were too many variables, too much could go wrong.

Rocky took a few steps until he was standing in front of his fiancé. He looked at her face until his eyes locked hers. "This is dangerous. We can find another way." His words were spoken for everyone to hear but they were meant for her.

Carri made a face as she started to narrow down the multiple responses that were running through her head. Before she could pick the one that would least hurt Rocky's feelings, Jason jumped in. "We all know Carri's right. She is the only one Callisto is guaranteed to personally respond to. It is dangerous but I say we go for it."

"That's majority vote." Kim said with a brief smile. She was hoping that was the end of this conversation. They needed to move quickly. "We have got to go with this."

"I'm still the leader here." Tommy started.

"And I'm still an experienced red." Kim pointed out harshly, cutting Tommy off. The look on his face pulled at her heart strings but she had as much right as he or anyone else in the room had to come up with battle plans. It wasn't like they were a bunch of newbies needing guidance. They all have held multiple morphers.

K couldn't help but wonder if on any world Tommy would accept her role as a leader. He was always the alpha ranger, the one every team considered to be their leader. He had trouble relinquishing control, especially when it was to her. "Let's go ahead and teleport Carri up, then we'll follow silently behind her."

"Right." Kim agreed. She glanced briefly at Tommy, giving him what she hoped was an apologetic look, before looking toward Carri who was giving Rocky a quick kiss before coming their way. She took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. It was now or never.

* * *

Carri stood on the moon alone as neither Kim nor K were planning on arriving yet. She looked around the surface for a moment as she took a few deep breaths and thought about how amazing it was that the power surrounded her and adapted her immediate environment to her body. In that sense the power would protect them almost anywhere, allowing them to stand on foreign planets without succumbing to atmospheric or gravitational differences.

Of course that was a thought for another day. Now she had to drag Callisto out of the palace. How hard could that be? "Callisto!" she yelled as she started to march toward the palace, which was about one hundred yards from her current location. "I know you know I'm here. I thought it was about time for a visit." She continued to walk toward the palace. The goddess's silence was bothering her and she decided it was time to push her a bit farther. "I know you're afraid I'm going to kick your ass but that doesn't mean we can't talk."

Carri stopped short as Callisto materialized in front of her. She gave the goddess a smug smile. She never did like it when Carri thought she was better than her. "Glad to see you're not too afraid of me."

"Afraid? More like amused." Callisto corrected. She had felt her the moment she arrived on the moon. She had no clue what she was doing there and curiosity got the best of her. She watched her for a few minutes before deciding it was time to make an appearance before the ranger got too carried away. "You wanted to talk?" Callisto asked, although talking wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

Carri thought quickly before smiling at her. She hadn't really worked on this part of the plan before but it wasn't too difficult to come up with some sort of direction. "Well you know. We've been doing this dance for ten years now. And while it has been so much fun I am just losing interest." Carri said. Callisto was quite curious by this point so she continued. "And you know, I have a job and a life and I'm getting older and let's face it I can't do this forever. And I don't want to leave Kim dealing with your sorry ass long after I'm gone. So let's end this."

Callisto couldn't agree more. This has been a long time coming. "And by end this you mean?" she questioned as she drew her sword.

"I mean I'm going to chop you up into little goddess bits and personally see to it that you get shipped straight to Hades." She explained with a grin, moving into a stance to morph.

Callisto snarled at her. "Why morph?" She asked, ready to slice her where she stood.

"Because it's got to be a fair fight." Carri pointed out, knowing full well that Callisto didn't give a damn.

The goddess watched as her prey called for her morphers. "Since when did I play fair?" she asked, attacking Carri before she got a chance to transform.

Carri fell to the ground hard, barely avoiding getting sliced as she immediately rolled off to her side. With a swift kick she knocked the goddess back, morphing into her planetary form before Callisto could spin around. "See. Now it's fair." She said with a growl as she reached up and called for her lance.

In a blink of an eye the normally vacant space on the surface of the moon they were occupying turned into a battlefield. Figures moved swiftly as weapons clanged against each other, the two enemies doing everything they could to find an advantage.

Each fighter was giving the other their full concentration. It was probably the only reason Callisto didn't sense K as she arrived on the surface, far enough away from their current position to stay in the shadows yet close enough to use the orb. Carri only knew she was there because of the faint glow of her teleportation. There wasn't much time to think about it, Carri had a brief feeling that this might work before having to devote all of her attention back to the battle.

Fighting Callisto was never easy, and there was no telling how long both of them would continue to be on even ground. Carri made every effort possible to make sure she fought then separated herself from Callisto so that K could trap her in the orb. Five minutes later, the fighting was fiercer than ever and Carri couldn't figure out why K just wouldn't trap her already.

Carri's head suddenly filled with the K's obvious doubts that she was going to be able to be their final solution. She found herself more resolved than ever to figure out a way to get rid of the goddess herself. She would pull from one of her own crazy ideas if she had to. Taking it up a notch, she found herself able to push Callisto back a bit.

That was all it took. Callisto was done playing fair. Nobody pushed her around, especially not a ranger. With one fierce kick she hit Carri in the stomach, sending her stumbling back. As soon as there was some distance the goddess fired fireball after fireball at her opponent.

Carri had no time to recover. She ducked and weaved and did everything she could to avoid taking a direct hit from one of them. She did not want to be the one to test the amount of damage a fireball could do to her suit. She was unable to get in any offence as she maneuvered around, the fireballs coming out of Callisto's hands more rapidly by the second. It wasn't long before Carri was clipped by one, which quickly spun her around and toppled her over, knocking the wind out of her and weakening the uniform that protected her.

Callisto leaped in front of her, twirling her sword in one hand as she grinned. "I'd say I'm sad to see you go, but that would be a lie."

Carri struggled to try and get up as she wondered if this was the part where Kim was supposed to fly in with her relief. But perhaps the plans had changed. Perhaps K couldn't work the orb and this was the part where she may have to sacrifice herself to complete plan B and trap Callisto. She didn't want to die, but she'd give her life if she could take that bitch to hell with her.

For a split second the action had stopped. That was all that was needed for Callisto's mind to clear. They weren't alone. Suddenly she forgot about destroying Carri as she spun around to find Kemora standing a lot closer than she'd prefer. "You." She hissed as she noticed the red glow coming from Kemora's hands.

"Miss me?" K asked, acting quickly before the goddess could register what was going on. Red energy shot from her hands and through the orb, hitting Callisto head on. Callisto realized what was going on just as it was too late as the energy spread quickly, consuming her and pulling her into the containment orb.

Carri started to pull herself to a sitting position as she glanced at the orb, which held a faint red glow and now encased the tiny, furious blonde figure inside. "Cutting it a bit close weren't we?" she grumbled.

Kim appeared seemingly out of nowhere and took the orb from K. "See? Easy." She said, giving her friend a somewhat apologetic smile. "Now I need to put this somewhere that no one will ever find."

"Christ." Carri swore as she powered herself down. She immediately regretted the decision as she hurt a lot worse than she thought she did. "At least make sure she stays gone until I'm dead. Then she's your problem."

"Don't worry. We'll never see her again." Kim couldn't be certain, but she was damn sure going to try to keep this thing from ever being discovered.

K watched as a red glow opened from within Kim before she was gone. She walked over to her friend's counterpart and knelt down to help her up. Carri let out a few choice words as she stood, then K teleported them both back to the Command Chamber.

* * *

As a demon, Goldar knew exactly what to do in life. Rita Repulsa's bidding. Or Lord Zedd's, after all he was only really loyal to whichever of the duo was in charge. When they got married, or at least when Rita tricked Zedd into marrying him, his loyalties extended to them as a pair. It was why he didn't hesitate to take their newborn daughter away from the battle that was about to break out. Win or lose, Rita hadn't wanted her in the rangers' path.

When he had heard about the outcome of the final battle he was more than a little surprised. Dark Specter was dead and everyone else had been purified by Zordon. At the time he'd thought it was a fate worse than death. It was then that he vowed to raise Rhianna in the evil ways that he had learned from her parents so that she could seek the revenge she was entitled to.

He had never gone through this experience before, and children were quite foreign to him. Like any new parent, he was prone to making mistakes. The biggest mistake, the one he wished he could take back, was trusting Callisto. Rita and Zedd worked with her and she hated the rangers as much as Rhianna should. He thought they would suit each other. But he was wrong. It was always about Callisto's agenda. The worst part was that he knew better.

Callisto wanted to age her so she could get her in action sooner. Goldar allowed her to take her to a wizard and overnight her physical appearance was that of someone in their early twenties. But in reality she was only nine. Mentally sometimes that showed. Although she had the mental capabilities to absorb adult concepts, which she did quite often especially where battle was concerned, she still skipped several key developmental years. He hadn't really caught onto it until he'd stumbled onto her after she had intercepted an Earth satellite and was watching Spongebob Squarepants.

Of course that wasn't the most disastrous thing Callisto had ever done to her. The goddess had given her skills and powers, most of which she could harness well, but it was the crystal and the powers that it led to that were the final straw. Callisto knew damn well that it would most likely kill her and she didn't care, as long as the rangers were taken out in the process. Protecting Rhianna's life was what caused him to finally stand up to her.

And this was what he got for it. He was purified and in a holding cell. He didn't regret it. And he wasn't upset about the purification either. He found himself with a lot of time to reflect. There was a sharp pain in his gut when he thought about all the wrongs he had done in the name of evil. It was a hard thing to live with.

What kept him from completely going crazy was the idea of redemption. And he wanted to start with Rhianna. He still loved her as much as he was sure her parents did. And good or evil he still wanted to help her parents out. He had the desire to take care of her like she was his own. After all he had raised her up to this point. He knew what he had to do. He had spent a lot of time plotting an escape. He just needed some sort of distraction to set it off.

What he would do after that may not be as easy as it sounded. He couldn't take on this empire alone. He knew the one person Rhianna would listen to, that was powerful enough to help, was her mother. That was why he had to seek her help. After their purification there were all sorts of rumors floating around the galaxy about what had happened to the once mighty Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. The most powerful rumors centered on Rita being a strong force for good now. It was who and where she was and what she was doing that was in question. He had an idea of where to start looking though.

Suddenly the castle alarms went off. His guards, more than a little confused, didn't know what to do at first. After a while the Cirranadrones came running in, and whatever had happened it seemed as though it was spreading chaos quickly. This was the distraction he was looking for. In the midst of the chaos he could escape. It was now or never.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Rocky questioned, rushing to Carri's aid the minute they arrived. They had seen all the action from the viewing screen but couldn't do anything about it. It was a terrible feeling, and there was a moment that he thought he was going to lose her and his heart was just now starting to beat regularly again.

"I'm fine." She grumbled, subconsciously leaning into him for support. "Callisto is gone. That's the most important thing."

"Let's get you checked out." Billy said. He was fairly certain that the medical computers would be able to get her back into fighting condition quickly. They had to, Rhianna could be there any minute. With Rocky's help he led Carri into the infirmary, leaving the other rangers to discuss what was going on.

"I'm glad that's over." Jason said with a sigh as he leaned against the console. He'd agree that the plan was flawed but he knew Carri could get the job done. He was just happy that she came back in one piece.

Kim chose that moment to teleport in after storing the orb in a safe place. She noticed that there were quite a few less people there than expected. "Carri's ok?" She had seen her before she left but since her friend was nowhere to be found she had to ask.

"Billy is just taking a look to make sure she's fine." Tommy said, glaring at Kim as he crossed his arms over his chest. "She could have been killed." He thought she was going to be, and he knew the plan was for Kim to intervene yet she was nowhere to be found.

"But she wasn't and Callisto's gone so the mission was a success." Kim quickly defended her operation. "She handled herself fine, and when it was serious is when K finally started to access the orb's energy so I wasn't worried."

Jason snorted as he thought about how she was probably the only member of the team that was that confident when the situation got serious. Kim glared at him and he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as if to say whatever.

Tommy glanced from one of his rangers to the other, feeling as though he completely lost control of the entire situation. "Trust me I am glad she's gone. But that still doesn't mean I agree with the idea." He said firmly, holding his hand up as Kim went to debate with him. "Since that is over with we should shift our focus to Rhianna, who will be here soon."

"Do you need any help?" K offered, although it really wasn't her place to interfere. Anymore than she already had anyway. But she knew she owed this team a debt that would take lifetimes to repay and she didn't mind offering her assistance.

"We should be fine." Kim replied. She knew enough to know that you shouldn't really interfere with another world and this was this their team's battle, not K's. She could justify Callisto much like K had justified bringing her in to help against Kemora. K and Callisto had fought before, and if Callisto ever figured out that Kemora was really K she'd come after her. And K had the right to stop her before that happened.

K nodded at Kim, both realizing what the other was thinking. "Then I'll be returning home." She said.

"Thank you for helping us trap Callisto." Kim said as she smiled at her older self.

"Anytime." K replied. They quickly said their goodbyes and she teleported herself back to her home world.

"So back to Rhianna." Kim said, turning her attention back toward Tommy. She could tell he was angry. When the dust cleared they'd have to talk this out.

"I think"

Before Tommy could get anymore words out they were interrupted by the alarm. All eyes turned toward the viewing screen. "I think we're out of time to talk about it." Jason created his own sentence out of Tommy's unfinished words as they all shifted into a defensive stance.

"Get Rocky and Carri." Tommy spoke toward Jason, hoping that Carri was ready for another battle. As Jason ran off he looked back toward the viewing screen. "Let's hope that we can handle Rhianna."

* * *

Despite not being mentally, or in one case physically ready, the team of rangers quickly arrived on the scene, ready to do whatever was necessary to stop Rhianna. How they were going to do it was still seriously in question, but they had to try.

"This is it rangers. This is the moment that I finally get to kill you and take control of your precious planet." Rhianna was quick to inform them upon their arrival. She was excited. Everything seemed to be going quite well and she couldn't wait to test out her full array of powers on them.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I was you." Tommy said, his voice showing more confidence than he felt. Briefly he glanced at the four members of the team before leading the fight against Rhianna.

Cratus watched momentarily from Rhianna's side as she quickly issued her first painful set of blows to a ranger team who had no clue what was coming for them. Callisto would be pleasantly surprised that so far the gem hadn't killed Rhianna and that she was able to beat the rangers back with no mercy. Neither he nor Callisto knew what would happen when they sent her after the gem. Since Rhianna didn't know what it was and no one was there to oppose them, they let her go for it. He had to assume that her only having one piece of the crystal was holding the gem back and keeping it from killing her.

As he watched her fight the rangers he could tell that she was somewhat holding back on them and that pleased him. She truly did have her parents' evil running through her veins. It was the best way to get your revenge. Start working on your enemy slowly and painfully, leading up to the kill. Callisto was going to be pleased.

When she showed up that was. He couldn't believe that neither she nor the Cirranadrones were on the surface yet. His understanding was that the minute they returned they'd be joined by the goddess and her lackeys in order to take the rangers down. He had to assume that whatever was holding her back was important. Tightening his grip on his sword he saw the white ranger fall to his back. Now was as good a time to join the attack as any.

Tommy looked up just in time to see Cratus barreling toward him. Rolling quickly out of the way, he jumped up and reached for his own weapon before engaging in battle against Cratus. He almost felt as though he was betraying his team. They were fighting a near impossible battle against Rhianna, which for the record didn't seem as though having Callisto here could have possibly made it any more difficult, while he was off to the side fighting a much easier battle.

Swords clanged against each other as his battle with Cratus continued. Looking over at the others he noticed that they were pulling out every trick at their disposal. Before he had a chance to think about it he was pulled back into the action.

The others were so involved in the fight that they didn't even notice their leader getting pulled away into another battle. Kim found herself levitating and teleporting and using any of her Muirantian powers she had access to in order to try and get around and get a shot in. She barely registered the other rangers around her, struggling to get their own shots in while avoiding attacks. Everyone was quite focused on the task at hand but that didn't make it easier.

Her friends were taking quite a beating and she couldn't help but feel for them. They didn't have the same powers she did, the same movement capabilities. They couldn't go in as many directions as she could to get out of the way. She was moving around so much it got to the point where she didn't know which end was up. She did know that they were wearing down and Rhianna looked as though she didn't have a scratch. They couldn't go on like this all day, there had to be something better.

The clouds around her clumped together and grew darker and for a moment she thought that Carri must have been trying to call lightning strike. A quick glance at her friend showed she was not in Planetary form, although that wouldn't have been a bad idea at this point. Instinct told her that this eerie darkness was manmade and if it wasn't Carri trying to form severe lightning strikes that only left Rhianna.

Rhianna cackled as her self made storm rolled into place. It was just for effect really, to creep them out and confuse them before she stepped it up a notch. Using her abilities she let thunder roll through the clouds and a few lightning strikes pop the afternoon sky. The rangers were tired and confused and were going to love what was next.

Rhianna held her arms out and reached from within as the storm created wind fiercely blew leaves around her. She watched the rangers struggle to come close to her, fighting through the wind gusts that were picking up speed in order to offer up another lame attack. She couldn't help the laugh that came from within, the one that pushed through the ambient noise and startled the rangers as she sounded exactly like her mother. The laugh increased in volume as she pulled from every power at her disposal, the evil energies she had pouring through the power core in her chest. As the rangers grew closer, powerful energy beams flew out of her chest, hitting anything that moved until nothing was left twitching.


	24. Powers Resurrected

**Disclaimer:** The Power Ranger's are still Disney's, K and the Nova's were created by KSuzie, and all others belong to me.  
**Author's Notes:** First much thanks to KSuzie for helping me bridge the gap between Kim's meeting with Dulcea and getting Ninjor to help her.  
Second, just to point out in case you weren't already aware, in the original Ranger Scrolls (and really in any of my ranger stories) I insert MMPR:TM into the storyline, meaning that I view the story of Ivan Ooze, Dulcea and everything else that happened as the cannon story and totally discount Ninjor. Although I have not discounted his existence which is why he's being used here. And he has been incorporated to fit in with the story, meaning that I have tweaked his roots some although Ninjor will still be the same old Ninjor.

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Powers Resurrected"

Rhianna watched with glee as the rangers lay on the ground, none of them moving. She stopped firing the energy shots but allowed the storm to continue swirling around her as she couldn't help but wonder if they were dead. It was almost anticlimactic. She thought they'd certainly have more fight in them than that. She had so much more she wanted to do, so many more powers she wanted to experiment with. But if this was it she'd settle with Callisto's earlier idea. Beheading them and displaying her enemies in front of her palace on Earth for the world to know what would happen if they messed with her.

As she walked through the carnage she noticed the pink one starting to twitch. It figures that the one with the Muirantian powers would be hardest to take down. They heal easier and fight harder from what she had been told.

Kim's eyes opened and the swirling in her head started to cease. She felt as though she couldn't move, but she knew she had to. Slowly she pulled herself to her hands and knees, forcing herself to stand up. The storm was still going full force and Rhianna was standing there looking at her with a wicked grin on her face.

"It doesn't appear as though your friends fared as well as you. Pitty." Rhianna said with a smile. Perhaps the pink ranger's friends were all dead. She was finally getting her revenge for her parent's deaths. She hadn't been this happy in a long time.

Kim said nothing as she glanced at her teammates still lying on the ground. She hoped that they were alright. She knew she had healed faster because she was Muirantian. She hoped that meant they were healing on a slower, more human pace.

"You are not going to get away with this." Kim hissed. It was a line uttered by rangers many times in the past, but the ominous tone in Kim's voice made Rhianna the first bad guy to take note.

Rhianna stood up straight, surprised by the resolve in the little pink ranger. She had guts, and powers, and might actually pose a threat. "Well then." She said as she let the power flow to her fingertips. Electric charges crackled off of her fingers as she grinned at Kim. Before she could give the pink ranger a jolt, she teleported herself behind Rhianna, kicking her in the back then hitting her with a set of arrows.

Cratus moved into position to help Rhianna stand up and stay by her side for the fight. Kim glanced at them both as they moved into fighting position. If she didn't have her team by her side to strengthen her powers, there was no sense in holding on to the lesser of the two sets. With one swift motion she powered down as the pink ranger and powered up as the Red Fire Ranger.

Calling for her flame saber she wasted no time trying to take them both on. She ducked through Cratus's sword attacks while trying to avoid Rhianna's attacks. It was much more difficult than she thought it would be, but she'd continue doing it while praying that her friends were alright and would be back in the battle soon.

Kim fought diligently, trying her hardest to avoid the attacks. She didn't really have a solid battle plan. She certainly wasn't prepared for this. The one thing she did want to do was to drag Rhianna away from her friends. It didn't stop the storm from raging around them but it did stop her from paying them any attention.

The three warriors were completely enthralled with one another and none of them were paying any attention to the carnage left on the battlefield. It was why no one noticed as slowly the remainder of the rangers started to stir. They all felt groggy and none of them seemed to be able to get the world in front of them to focus properly. The pain was intense and they were having difficulty pulling themselves up into a sitting position, let alone a fighting one.

Tommy was the first of the team to attempt to rush back in. As the world around him became less fuzzy, he saw the Red Planetary Ranger fighting Cratus and Rhianna on her own. He couldn't believe she was attempting this and he couldn't let her do it by herself anymore. He had to help her. Standing quickly he took a minute to get his bearings straight before running to attack Cratus and take some of the pressure off of Kim.

The others started to slowly move behind him. They were all hurt and exhausted but they all knew they had to protect the planet. One in particular was pissed. As Jason and Rocky noticed the scene, they elected to run immediately to engage Rhianna again. Carri held back for a moment.

She had seen how Kim had switched powers on her while they were all out on the ground. It made sense to use their Planetary powers. After all, these weren't getting them anywhere anyway. Besides that Rhianna had pissed her off and she wanted to show her what one could really do when playing with lightning. Whether or not it would help, she didn't know, but she would feel a lot better if she could electrify her ass.

Carri powered down and immediately felt the weight of the two beatings she had received in the last hour. Had this fight been something less serious, she probably would have spent a few more minutes getting healed before jumping in. She forced herself to fight through the pain, knowing that as soon as she morphed the healing process would start again. With one quick motion of her hand she called on her Planetary morpher and transformed.

The other rangers were so busy fighting Rhianna that they didn't know that Carri was missing, let alone what she was doing. They were forced to pay attention to her when, mid battle, Rhianna got struck by lightning and thrown off of her feet. How fast the others made the connection Kim wasn't sure but she immediately realized that Rhianna hadn't struck herself with lightning and she made her way toward her Planetary teammate.

"You think a little fire lightning combo will take her down a notch?" Kim asked, calling full power to her weapon and watching as Carri did the same.

"We can give it a try." Carri replied, watching as Rhianna stood back up more than a little pissed off. This was the second time she had faced off against Rhianna and founding herself wishing that they had a full set of Planetary powers. Individually their weapons and powers were strong, but together, well they might actually do some real damage to Rhianna. But that was something they'd never get to find out.

Weapons raised, Carri and Kim rushed toward Rhianna. They leaped into the air and were poised and ready to attack when a wave of energy was emitted from her body, knocking them both high in the air before slamming them to the ground.

"This is too easy." Rhianna said with a smile as she looked at the team of fatigued rangers. "I am glad you are all moving now. I have so much more to try out on you." There was a nasty little trick she had learned that she was anxious to try. She summoned the power necessary, and with a wicked grin she glanced at her opponents. As she prepared to unleash her fury they disappeared in a flash of multicolored light.

* * *

Billy looked at his friends as they arrived before him bruised, battered and slow to get up. Kim stood first, powering down. "Did you teleport us?" she asked, turning toward their friend.

The others pulled themselves up and faced Billy as well, none of them ready to power down and remove the protection of their suits just yet. "I can see the powers she's using. She could have, she would have killed you. You are no good to anyone dead." Billy hoped that his explanation would take care of any questions or protests they might have.

"We can't just leave her down there to conquer the planet." Tommy was quick to point out as he took a few steps forward. "We're the only line of defense they've got."

"Yeah and we were getting our asses kicked." Carri muttered loudly as all heads turned toward her. She gave a slight shrug. "Billy's right. At the rate we were going we weren't doing anyone a whole hell of a lot of good. We need to come up with a solution that doesn't end with letting her kill us."

"Do you have any ideas?" Tommy asked, turning his attention back toward Billy. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Carri was right. It was time to regroup and rethink and figure something out. Even if that meant leaving Rhianna down there unopposed for the moment.

"No." Billy replied quickly. Although he knew that wasn't exactly true, he did have the weapon he was working on. But it was too risky to try and he wasn't sure if he wanted to bring it up.

"You've got nothing?" Jason asked with a sigh. It was always Billy who was bailing them out of tough situations. Without anything new they'd have to rely on brute strength and weapons at their disposal, none of which had proven the least bit effective yet.

"We'll have to go back and fight." Tommy said. There was determination in his voice, even though he thought that it was most likely not going to end well for everyone. "Maybe we can attack her power source with all the force that we have. Maybe that will disrupt her long enough to let us do some damage."

Billy sighed. They were determined. Good idea or not, he had to tell them about the weapon. It was all they had. "I know a way to interrupt her powers." He spoke quickly, trying to get their attention before they all followed Tommy's idea and took off.

"You have something for us?" Tommy questioned, angry that he was just now speaking up.

"Somewhat." Billy confirmed. Before Tommy could speak again the former ranger continued. "I developed a weapon that will separate all of Rhianna's powers from her for an unspecified amount of time. The reason I didn't bring it up before is because it's dangerous."

"More dangerous than getting our asses kicked?" Carri questioned, raising one brow underneath her helmet.

"To make a weapon of this magnitude you have to have a sufficient power source. It will drain from the grid and from your coins in order to have enough force to make one shot. The problem is, that with only five coins it is going to drain so much power from each coin that it will temporarily power you down." Billy explained.

"Can't we just morph again?" Rocky questioned, unsure of what the big deal was. "If Rhianna doesn't have her powers and ours still work, we can morph and take care of her."

"I'm not sure it will work that way." Billy replied. There wasn't exactly a way to test a weapon of this magnitude, it was all theoretical. He did know for certain that it would strip their powers, he couldn't be as positive on what it might do to Rhianna. "There's no telling how long it will take the coins to, simply put, reset themselves. I can't tell you how long you will be without powers. I can't tell you with one hundred percent certainty that it will work on Rhianna, or how long her powers will be scattered. There is a good possibility that her powers will recover before yours do and you won't stand a chance."

"Kim and I would still have powers. If we use the weapon you can teleport the others back until the coins recover and we can take her out as Planetary Rangers." Carri was quick to respond. It seemed like quite a simple solution to a complex problem.

"If the weapon doesn't work exactly the way it is supposed to, she could kill you the moment you powered down not giving you a chance to morph again." Billy replied. He had been through all the scenarios. That one in particular had even crossed his mind. And although he was confident enough in his calculations that the weapon would pull her powers away from her for some period of time, he couldn't test the weapon and he had no solution for the power source problem. All in all it was too risky. He was regretting his decision to tell them about it but they had every right to know.

"What if we had six coins?" Kim questioned as ideas whirled around in her head. "Would that be enough energy to keep us morphed while we used the weapon?"

"In theory that would solve the problem." Billy said as he thought about it. A sixth coin would allow the weapon to draw some of the necessary power from it, and although he'd have to run the calculations it should be enough to keep anyone from powering down. There was only one issue with that idea and it was quite a hefty problem. "However, we do not have another coin. Zordon's only other coins were the blue and green coins, and the blue was destroyed while the green was rendered useless." Not to mention the fact that he thought it was best that the green ranger coin was permanently retired.

"What if we could recreate one?" Kim asked. Creating coins was certainly not outside the realm of possibility. She knew K was interested in it. Someone had to have helped K. She could go to Dulcea and see what she could find out. If they could make another blue coin, they'd have a six person team and be able to use Billy's weapon without worrying about the overwhelming consequences.

"If that were possible it would work." Billy replied. Although as far as he knew, that wasn't possible. "However the one person to ask would be Zordon and since he's not around the task is nearly impossible."

"I have another idea. But you are going to have to trust me." Kim said. She wouldn't waste precious seconds arguing with Billy over it. She needed to consult with Dulcea and get back cutting as close as she possibly could to the current time. "I am going to try to get us another coin to complete the team."

"Kim," Tommy started to protest.

"We don't have any other ideas. I'll be back soon I promise." Kim said quickly before teleporting herself out of the Command Chamber.

Tommy held in the mix of emotions he felt as Kim left. She hadn't really given them a chance to say no. He had no idea what she thought she was going to do. Without having any coins lying around or Zordon's guidance in how to begin to recreate them, the task seemed rather pointless. Unless Kim knew something about making coins she wasn't telling any of them. Which could very well be the case. Tommy shook his head. He wished he knew what she was thinking.

"So now what?" Jason asked, interrupting the silence that had fallen on the room as he spoke the question he assumed they were all thinking.

"Any way to keep Rhianna from terrorizing the city until Kim does whatever it is she's thinking about?" Carri asked. Her thoughts were somewhat in agreement with Tommy's. Coins didn't just fall out of the sky. And although she had faith in what Kim could do, her friend had never mentioned anything to her about being a coin master.

"The Nova's will be here shortly." Billy spoke, trying to reconfigure his thoughts to what was going on in the Command Chamber. "Perhaps eleven rangers will be enough to hold her at bay until Kim returns."

"We'll go down and try to distract her and hopefully steer clear of her wrath. As soon as the Novas are in range send them to assist." Tommy spoke quickly as he regained control of the situation.

"Right." Billy said, watching as his friends stood tall and teleported themselves back down to the scene of the action.

* * *

Seconds after leaving the Command Chamber, Kim found herself arriving on Phaedos. If it weren't for the severity of the situation she would have found it amusing that she was here yet again. She'd spent more hours with Dulcea just since her abilities started to manifest than she'd spent with Tommy since they'd gotten back together.

But that was a thought for another day as now she needed Dulcea's assistance. She wasn't sure where to find her but there weren't many places that Dulcea could go. Of course Dulcea would most likely find her first but regardless Kim was going to head toward the temple ruins to look for her.

Kim quickly walked the path she'd traveled hundreds of times, not bothering to glimpse the scenery she knew by heart. She ignored most of the noises around her, until she heard the owl calling over head. With a glance she spotted it, flashing it a smile before it flew on up ahead. By the time Kim reached the top of the ruins, Dulcea was there waiting for her.

"Kimberly." Dulcea greeted as her young student came into view. "What brings you here?"

Kim replied with a greeting of her own before speaking quickly. "I was hoping I could enlist your assistance to help the team."

"You know that I am willing to give any assistance that I am able to." Dulcea said, wondering to herself exactly what kind of assistance she could provide from the portion of Phaedos she was tethered to.

"You can make coins, right." Kim figured that was the best way as any to approach the situation.

Dulcea gave a slight nod. She knew a bit about coins. One would have to in order to bestow Ninjetti powers on those deemed worthy.

"As I am sure you are aware, the blue coin was destroyed years ago as Billy attempted to age the young rangers so that they could protect the planet." Kim started, briefly pausing long enough for Dulcea to acknowledge that she knew what she was talking about. "We have been functioning as a team without it. However in order to use a specialized weapon to destroy Rhianna and save Angel Grove, we need a sixth coin. I know K has dabbled in creating coins, I was hoping you could help me and together we could recreate the blue coin."

"Although my creating coins is possible, what you are asking is a task that would require the assistance of a more advanced coin master." Dulcea spoke as she thought over how she was going to answer Kim's request for help. "Due to the destruction of the original blue coin, I do not have the capability to replace it and connect it properly to the grid."

"I don't know any other coin masters. With Zordon gone…." Kim's voice trailed off and Dulcea could hear the sadness as she referenced her former mentor. Kim knew that Zordon would have known how to go about replacing the blue coin.

"There is much you still do not know about the way things are." Dulcea said with a smile. Kim was young yet and had no clue who all the rangers allies were. "With your Muirantian abilities I would imagine that Ninjor would be able to easily assist you."

"Ninjor?" Kim repeated, curious as to why she'd never heard the name before.

"Ninjor was the coin master who worked with Zordon to create your original power coins." Dulcea explained. "And he was my mentor." She added in. Ninjor had taught her everything she needed to know about coins, knowledge that would become eternally useful as both the guardian of the great power and as one who gave those who were worthy Ninjetti powers. "If anyone can assist you it is him."

"How do I find Ninjor?" Kim asked, more than ready to seek him out and get this sixth coin taken care of. She needed to get back to her friends as quickly as possible.

"Ninjor has a temple, the exact location of which I am uncertain." Dulcea said, watching as Kim's expression dropped. It was easy to forget that it had been lifetimes since Dulcea had been allowed to leave Phaedos. Ninjor used to religiously move his temple entrance around, although she had heard that in the last century or so he'd become quite senile in his old age and had had declined to continue moving the entrance. She hoped for Kim's sake that the senility didn't translate into his abilities. "You have many resources at your disposal. I am certain that you will be able to ascertain the temple's location."

Kim thought about it for a moment. She wasn't sure what was going to hold her back more. Not knowing the location was quite the obvious setback. There had to be someone who knew how to get there. The obvious answer was Zordon. If Ninjor created their power coins, Zordon had to have some idea where to find him. Of course she couldn't exactly ask him. The second problem was going to be meeting him at the temple. She was going to be recognized as demon spawn before she ever got to plead her case. She had no idea how to get him to listen to her and to help her create this coin.

Of course she did know one person who very well may have an answer to both questions. Mind made up, Kim turned to Dulcea and smiled. "Thank you very much for your help." Barely staying long enough to hear the "you're welcome", Kim teleported herself out to seek the assistance of a friend.

* * *

K sat in her home, deep in thought about everything that was going on. The only thing that pulled her back into reality was the faint red glow that appeared before her. She was surprised to see the familiar glow, but she supposed she shouldn't have been. As Kim was coming into her powers she was becoming a regular visitor.

"I'm sorry to bother you." Kim started, flashing K a quick smile. "I have what should be an easy question then I'll be on my way."

"You're fine." K replied. It was nice on occasion to have disruptions from everything else going on in her life. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you knew of Ninjor." Kim said, figuring that was the first step in getting into this conversation.

"Ninjor?" K repeated with a snicker. "Why in the world would you need to know about Ninjor?"

Kim found herself quite confused with K's reaction. She was acting as though the question was absurd, yet Kim was under the impression that Ninjor was quite the genius and quite important to their cause. "I need help with something and I was told that he was the one I should see."

"Seriously?" K questioned, not being able to hide her amusement. "Isn't there anyone besides that senile old twerp you can go to?"

"Dulcea was the one that pointed me in his direction." Kim spoke quickly, hoping that Dulcea hadn't directed her poorly. "She said he's the only one who can help me. And now you're saying he's useless?"

"Not exactly, he's, well you'll understand my surprise when you meet him." K said with a smile. She certainly didn't want to give Kim the impression that Ninjor was incompetent, but he definitely wasn't the warrior he once was. "And if Dulcea pointed you toward him, I'm sure that's the right choice."

"The problem is, well the first problem, is that Dulcea has been on Phaedos so long she has no idea where Ninjor's temple entrance is anymore. I figured your paths had to have crossed and maybe you could point me in the right direction." Kim said, a hopeful tone in her voice.

"Good assumption." K replied. She was curious as to what factors led her to make that assumption but she decided now wasn't the time to ask. "And it's not a problem to tell you where to get the map." If their worlds were as similar as they appeared to be, she knew exactly where to get a map.

"Thank you." Kim replied as she let out a sigh of relief.

"So what's the second problem?" K asked, hoping that there were only two issues.

"The other problem is that I don't think Ninjor is going to be too receptive of demon spawn arriving on his doorstep and I was wondering if you had any suggestions." Kim explained. She doubted Ninjor would even give her a chance.

K thought about it for a moment. "You're going to have to prove yourself to him. Even then, there is no guarantee he'll trust you. He doesn't think straight at times so you're going to have to be persistent."

"Just great." Kim replied with a huff. If he didn't kill her off hand she had to work to prove herself. If Dulcea was trained by him, maybe her Ninjetti coin would be good enough. Maybe if she told him who she was that would prove something. "So if I survive the attack that is inevitably coming, I'll have to prove myself to him."

K couldn't help but laugh out loud. Kim looked at her as though she was crazy, but the thought of Kim losing to Ninjor was too funny. "I might have been worried a couple hundred years ago, but if I was you I'd be more concerned with you hurting him. It isn't going to be hard for you to find the time to start pleading your case."

"Right." Kim replied, drawing the word out. This was just getting better and better. She couldn't help but wonder exactly what she was getting into with Ninjor. But Dulcea seemed to have faith in him, and although K was quite amused she wasn't opposed to the idea. She hoped that there was something left of the coin master who created her Pterodactyl coin.

"Look," K started, sensing the frustration in Kim's voice, "he knows a lot, it's just that, well, we'll just say that the years haven't been kind and he can be hard to deal with. I'm sure things will work out."

"I hope you're right." Kim said with a sigh. "The fate of the world kinda depends on it." Kim waited but K seemed quite intent on holding her comments back. "Anyway, if you could help me get to the map that would be great."

"We'll get you on your way." K replied with a smile. It was time to get Kim pointed in Ninjor's direction.

* * *

The map was exactly where K said it was going to be. And it was easy enough to follow along with. She just had to make her way to the Desert of Despair. She couldn't help but wonder who named it, although she supposed it was quite frightening, at least it would have been had she gone there in her youth.

Most of the trip consisted of a search for a rock formation. On the way she battled with fire and quicksand and a variety of other traps placed to keep people out. Had she not had her powers it would have been rather intimidating. As it stood, none of them provided much of a challenge to her. Eventually with the map's help she found a trigger button which rotated the rock wall back, revealing a tunnel.

Heading down the tunnel was creepy, but it wasn't really much of a challenge. According to the map at the end there was an entrance of sorts. This was where she found herself, standing and staring at a dead end. There was energy coming from the wall and she had to assume that was the entrance. Not completely sure where the energy was coming from, she stuck her hands out and felt the wall. She moved around quickly, trying to see if she could pinpoint the exact spot. Without warning the seemingly hard surface gave away and Kim found herself tumbling through some sort of energy based door.

She stumbled out into a nice landscape, much to lush to still be part of the Desert of Despair. As she emerged further out into the area and glanced around, she realized that she must have been at the outside of the temple. The door was easy enough to find, all she had to do was follow the path and head in. The moment she crossed the threshold into the temple she tensed, ready for the inevitable fight. The doors swung shut behind her and the gate in front of her swung open, a figure immediately appearing sword in hand.

"Stop right there demon spawn. You will not gain access to the power in this temple." The figure who Kim could only assume was Ninjor spoke.

Kim glanced him over. His body was covered in a blue armor with gold trimmings and a giant gold N on his chest with a smaller one on his helmet. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile before speaking. "Let me explain. I'm not demon spawn I'm"

"Not demon spawn? Your DNA gives you away. Leave it to a demon to lie about being demon spawn." Ninjor said as he pointed his sword at her. "Now you will leave right away or I will force you out."

There was never any question that she was actually going to have to fight. Perhaps that was a way for her to prove herself. "I'm not leaving." Kim said firmly. As she expected, Ninjor charged at her. Quickly she thought of the best way to get his attention. "Ninjetti, crane!" She cried out, transforming into the Pink Crane Ninjetti for the first time in a long time.

Ninjor stuttered as he watched her Ninjetti robes take over. Kim kicked him back with ease and Ninjor stumbled to the ground. "I have a coin." Kim said, producing it for him to see while he was getting up.

"You must have turned one of my coins evil." Ninjor said as he went to attack her once more.

Kim thought about how evil coins were certainly not out of the realm of possibility. She fought what was a relatively easy battle for a few moments before she pushed him back and spoke once more. "This isn't one of your coins. Dulcea gave it to me."

"What's this? Dulcea now serves the forces of evil?" Ninjor accused her as he stood and thought for a moment. "What has happened in this universe that my favorite pupil would turn from the cause of righteousness and willingly serve the dark empire?" He was going to have to go to Phaedos and remove her from her post after he was done with the demon spawn.

"Dulcea's not evil." Kim said with a sigh as Ninjor continued to attack. First she's evil, which she could understand, but now Dulcea? Was there anything this guy would listen to? She was starting to get the picture that K was trying to paint; he was hopelessly senile.

Ninjor went to attack her, swinging his sword violently. At one point he was so certain that he'd hit her, he swung with all his might. Kim ducked and Ninjor found himself with his fist stuck in the gate, the sword extended on the other side. Kim kicked his elbow so that his hand would fold and the bars of the gate would put pressure on his wrist. Without thinking Ninjor dropped his sword.

He quickly freed his hand knew he had to try to make his way to the gate's entrance so he could swoop around and grab his sword and continue the battle. With the enemy safely behind him, he headed for the front. Without warning, Kim appeared at the gate's entrance, kicking the surprised Ninjor back. Not expecting the attack, Ninjor fell to a seated position on the ground.

"Dulcea's not evil. She suggested that I come here for help. She said that you helped Zordon create my old Pterodactyl coin years ago and that you could help me now. I'd hate to tell her she was wrong." Kim said as she stood in an attack position just in case Ninjor still wasn't ready to listen.

"That's impossible. You're demon spawn." He once again pointed out, although his voice was obviously wavering.

"My cells were mutated by the pit on Muirantias. But just because I'm marked as demon spawn doesn't mean I am. I am the leader of the Planetary Rangers, and I am also a member of the team that is currently trying to save Angel Grove. And as I said before I could use your help." Kim's voice was stern yet friendly and she hoped she was getting through to him.

"Well… well…" Ninjor was obviously flustered as he stood. He still thought she was demon spawn. "If you are who you say you are, then you will be able to make it through my most challenging quest alive."

"Then will you help me?" Kim asked with a sigh, grateful that she had the ability to manipulate time. It was quite obvious that this was going to take longer than expected.

"That will be discussed if you survive." Ninjor replied, satisfied that there was no way that the demon spawn would make it through his difficult quest.

"Fine." Kim replied. K didn't mention anything about a quest. She wished she had given her a heads up. If she got killed over this she wasn't doing her team a whole lot of good. But she did have a lot of powers at her disposal. She'd just have to tough it up and get through it so she could get his help.

"I will lead you to the beginning of your quest." Ninjor said as he motioned for Kim to follow him.

"Great." Kim replied, shaking her head as she took off behind Ninjor.

* * *

Kim found herself stepping through a portal and into the jungle. She glanced around briefly and quickly noticed that there was only one direction that wasn't overflowing with jungle flora, and that direction was marked with a narrow path. She supposed that was the direction she'd take off in. She had no real idea. Ninjor had only said that if she wasn't demon spawn, she'd figure out where to go and know what to do once she got there.

With a sigh Kim headed off down the path, thinking about how this had all better be worth it. She had to keep telling herself that Dulcea wouldn't have sent her here if she didn't see the benefit in it. As she walked quickly down the path she could hear something moving through the overgrown bushes.

She didn't have much time to wonder what it was, as twenty yards in front of her appeared the giant, gross, ugly toad from her youth that once made her gag. "Terror toad." She stated as she jumped into fighting position. Where he came from she didn't know. Perhaps Rhianna was following her movements and sent one of her mother's creations after her. It didn't really matter though, either way she had to fight him.

The pair of old enemies rushed at each other and just as they were about to get within striking distance, Terror Toad vanished. Kim halted midstride as she looked around, quickly realizing that there was no trace of the former enemy that seconds ago she was convinced she'd have to defeat. She got the strangest sense of déjà vu as she resumed walking down the path, doing her best to remain alert.

Perhaps that was some sort of challenge? Look your enemy in the eye and attack. Perhaps if she was a demon she wouldn't have gone to attack and he wouldn't have disappeared, more than likely destroying her. That was going to have to be her best guess.

She glanced around the jungle, noticing how the thickness of the vegetation wasn't letting up. She couldn't help but wonder where exactly this led to. There were no noise other than the animals in the background, and no other indication of what was to come next.

She wished there had been an indication. She would have liked to have been prepared for what came next. Without any warning Callisto and Kemora appeared in front of her. "Impossible." She spoke aloud.

"What can I say, my friend here freed me." Callisto said with a laugh as she gestured toward Kemora. "Now we've come to get our revenge on you."

"No. That can't be. Her spirit is too weak. And you, I hid the orb, you couldn't have been let out." Kim spoke quickly as panic started to settle in. She tried not to let her fear show. What was she going to do? This can't be happening. They were hard enough to take on individually but together?

"What can I say." Kemora replied with a laugh. "I was strong enough to get back to the dimension you left. Take over the Kim you thought was safe. Her body has done me well now. From there all I had to do was free Callisto. She wants you dead as much as I do, especially since I let her in on yours and K's little game."

Weapons materialized into both of their hands and Kim took a few steps back. She needed help. She couldn't do this on her own. She tried to teleport herself but nothing happened. She was good, but taking on one of them by herself was a task. Taking a deep breath she tried to morph before realizing that was no good either.

Kim continued to take a few steps back as they advanced. Panic was setting in. The bad guys were going to win. They would kill her here and be able to go back to Angel Grove to help Rhianna kill her friends.

As she glanced down at her feet briefly she noticed something else was wrong. She was starting to disappear from the bottom up. That's when she realized where the feeling of déjà vu came from. Monsters from her past attacking then disappearing. Callisto and Kemora teaming up, one of her worst fears coming to life. It was almost as though she was on the island of illusion again.

Closing her eyes Kim thought a positive thought. She thought about the last time she battled Kemora. How she pulled her soul out of the young Kimberly and banished her weak spirit back to the world that it came from, saving the Kimberly in the process. When she opened her eyes again, Callisto and Kemora were gone and she was back in one piece.

"Is that it?" Kim asked aloud, although the answer was an obvious no. There was still much more of the jungle path stretched out for her to follow. As she started walking once more she couldn't help but wonder what was going on with the simplicity of the first part of the quest. Could Ninjor not come up with anything better than something she experienced in her youth? Perhaps that was the first, simple challenge she had to pass. Maybe the rest of her quest would get progressively harder until she reached the end.

The jungle continued to go on for what felt like forever. As Kim made her way through it she found herself starting to get irritated. It was hot, muggy, and didn't seem to have any point to it. She knew she had to be patient, but at the same time she was worried about her friends back home. It was obvious that this was going to take longer than she'd thought and that she wouldn't be able to bend time as closely as she liked. There was no doubt in her mind that Tommy would have taken the team back out to protect the planet, good idea or not. She needed to hurry up and get through this so she could get the coin and get things moving in the right direction.

Finally after walking a half an hour with no sign of anything the jungle parted and opened up into a vast space of dry, red dirt, quite the contrast to what she'd just been walking through. Although it was evident that the dirt ended at the edge of a cliff, Kim followed it anyway, making her way over to the two posts that marked where a bridge should have been to take her to the other side.

Kim took a step back and looked around. This had to be another challenge of some sort. As she glanced down at the ground something caught her eye. Walking over, she bent down and brushed some of the dirt off of the tiny wooden slab. Beneath it there was an image. Kim laughed aloud as she recognized it. Another challenge on Ninjor's supposedly death defying quest that she'd seen as a teenager.

The symbol was from a quest that she'd gone on during spring break of her senior year. She had returned from Florida for a visit as a break from everything going on. The then Zeo team lost their power and had to go on the quest in order to get them enough power to morph. She had stepped in for Kat, who had been captured by tengas.

This symbol essentially had indicated in their quest that a leap of faith was required. Of course then the leap of faith was in each other. Now she was by herself. She could only assume that it had nothing to do with her team. Perhaps the leap of faith was in the great power to protect her. She knew that her powers were fine, the illusion and loss of confidence had obstructed them before. Which meant that if she made the leap and was incorrect, she could just teleport herself back to the top of the ledge before any damage was done.

Kim stood where the bridge was supposed to be and took a deep breath before taking a step out into what appeared to be nothingness. She was both relieved and surprised when her foot touched solid ground. Shuffling her feet slowly Kim made her way across the invisible bridge. A distance that should have only taken her five minutes to cross took her a little over twenty. But it was well worth it once she was on visible ground again.

She took a moment to get a feel for her new surroundings. About a hundred yards ahead was a solid rock wall. From where she stood there appeared to be something in the middle. It was possibly a door but she wouldn't know until she got closer. Not wanting to waste any time she marched toward the rock.

She found herself pausing briefly, long enough to notice the bones of some sort of large animal lying on the ground. She couldn't help but wonder why the bones were there. Maybe it once was a protector of something and now it is long dead. Or maybe it simply didn't belong.

It didn't take long for her to realize that the bones were a protector of something but they weren't as dead as they appeared. In fact they were quite alive and well and were taking the shape of a rhinoceros. Déjà vu struck again as she thought of the dinosaur bones they had encountered on Phaedos on their way to the great power. Was it possible that he could be disassembled as easily as Tommy had done it all those years ago?

There was only one way to find out. As the rhino charged her, Kim did a flip and found herself sitting on his back. She hung on as he ran around furiously for a few moments. He paused for a second to avoid falling off into the emptiness at the edge of the cliff, and in that second Kim reached over and grabbed his neck bone, giving it a good yank. The bones underneath her crumbled to the floor and she hit the ground with a thud.

This was too easy. It was as though Ninjor hadn't made a quest in centuries. Everything he'd thrown at her so far she'd beaten when she was a novice ranger. There had to be something more difficult waiting for her on the other side of the rock.

Upset at wasting time with the rhino, Kim turned back toward the rock and took off in a jog. A few moments later she was standing in front of its center, where there was a circle drawn with what appeared to be a rock button in the middle of it. Kim was going to question if it could be that easy, but then again that had been the entire quest so far. Reaching out she pushed the button and the door dissolved into something very familiar to her.

She had only seen it once before but Dulcea had told her everything there was to know about it. It being an animal spirit guardian wall. They must be protecting whatever was inside for Ninjor. Kim inched up as close as she could to the guardians, watching as a crane came into view. Satisfied that she could pass through, Kim stepped into the wall.

Appearing on the other side Kim was quick to realize that she was in a cave and at the center of the cave was some sort of artifact. Cautiously she walked over. There were no booby traps, nothing preventing her access. As she reached the center she grabbed the artifact. Without warning the floor underneath her opened up and she disappeared.

* * *

The portal that swallowed Kim spat her out back at the spot she had fought Ninjor a little over an hour ago. Standing there waiting for her was Ninjor himself. "I got it." She said quickly, holding up the artifact. She had no idea what was supposed to be dangerous or life threatening about this quest. Its components would have been easy to figure out even if she hadn't seen them before. Perhaps they would have been difficult for a novice ranger, but not someone who has been through all that she has. She found it rather amusing, and she chalked the whole thing up to Ninjor's senility.

"Impossible." Ninjor stuttered to get out. He'd sent her on his difficult quest. She was a demon. There was no way she'd survive. "You, you must have used your demon powers to survive."

Kim rolled her eyes. So he was still going to stay on the demon kick? "It doesn't matter. I got the artifact and you said you'd help if I lived."

"I…I…" Ninjor was flustered. He didn't know what to say. He still didn't believe her and didn't want to help her.

"You're ready to listen to what I have to say and help me?" Kim supplied.

"You still have one more quest to pass." Ninjor said as Kim groaned aloud. He'd have to try and up the ante so that the demon would succumb and he'd be rid of her. Which meant trying to remember all the details of a more difficult quest. Although he couldn't believe she'd survived the first one. He always thought that was nearly impossible.

"You said if I passed your quest you'd help me." Kim was growing more frustrated by the minute. Hadn't she proved herself to him yet? "You said nothing about a second quest."

"The first quest was the preliminary quest." Ninjor spoke quickly. "I am about to send you on the all mighty quest to show that your demon DNA does not deter you from pursuing all that is good and fighting that which is evil."

"Seriously?" Kim questioned as she raised an eyebrow and gave him a look. That was quite obviously last minute bullshit, and it wasn't fooling anyone. Although Ninjor did seem quite pleased with himself.

"If you will not go on the quest you have been charged with completing then feel free to leave my temple and never return." Ninjor said crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head toward the door.

"Fine." Kim said harshly. "I'll go on the quest." Because this was just what she needed to take up her time.

"Then it is settled." Ninjor said as he approached her and strained to come up with the right wording of the chant that would take her on this quest. The words themselves were fuzzy, locked up in a corner of his mind that had been sitting dormant for years. He stopped and started a few times and it was obvious to Kim that he was flubbing the words. Finally he strung something together that sounded right.

The room around Kim started to spin, and when the spinning stopped she immediately noticed that she was in a cave of some sort with a bunch of not so friendly looking creatures. Much to her surprise to her left stood Ninjor.

Ninjor was quite confused. This wasn't supposed to happen. "I, I will follow you to make sure you do not cheat." Of course he was now just as much a part of this quest as she was. He must have crossed some of his words and sent both of them there instead of just her.

"Oh brother." Kim said with a sigh, rolling her eyes heavenward. He was fooling nobody. He must've goofed and now he's here.

Of course now was no time to worry about that. The enemy was advancing and a quick look around told Kim that there was a stone door at the cave's exit that was closing. Which meant she had to push past these guys and get out or it would be a quick end to this quest.

Kim recognized the enemy. They fought hard but had one weakness, the glowing green diamonds on their back. Smash the diamonds and down they go. "Ninjetti, crane!" she cried, donning her Ninjetti robes for the second time that day.

She started on her smash and dash, disabling as many of them as she could in order to make her way toward the exit before the door slammed shut. She was keeping a good eye on it and she knew she was making a good pace. She could levitate over them if it came to that, but she didn't want Ninjor to accuse her of using evil powers. She didn't even want to have the argument that she was levitating well before she was demon spawn.

The door was more than halfway shut as Kim pushed hard to get to it. She jumped over one of the creatures and slammed another one in the back, ducking from a third before coming upon two more. These guys were appearing out of nowhere. Disabling them she realized that the door was within leaping distance.

"I will not let you defeat me!" Ninjor's cries came through just as Kim was about to make the jump.

She glanced back to see him covered in the warriors. There was no way he'd make it to the door in time. But if she didn't go now there was no way she'd be able to make it through this quest and there was no way Ninjor would help her. Of course that was assuming Ninjor figured out how to make it out of this battle and make it out of the cave, both of which were in doubt at this point. She didn't have a choice, she had to help him.

Turning she ran back toward him, getting halfway there before the door slammed shut with a thud. That was it, her quest was over. But she was going to fulfill her duty as a ranger and save Ninjor. He was trying desperately to fight as she worked on disabling the creatures around him. Eventually none of the warriors were left moving and Kim and Ninjor found themselves trapped in the cave.

"I don't suppose you know another way out." Kim said as she glanced over at him.

"I, well" Ninjor stuttered.

Kim took that as a no. Like it or not, she was going to have to use her Muirantian powers. Walking over toward Ninjor she grabbed his arm and they both disappeared in a glow of red light.

* * *

As they appeared in the temple Ninjor glanced over at Kim. "I suppose I owe you a thank you."

"You're welcome." Kim said with a sigh, knowing that she had just blown her opportunity to complete his quest and gain his help. "I suppose since I failed I'll be going." She turned toward the entrance as she spoke. "We're never going to defeat Rhianna." She muttered, upset with her defeat.

"Wait." Ninjor called out to her. He still didn't know what to think. This situation didn't seem right to him. She was marked demon spawn, which in its nature made her evil. But she had saved his life back there. The simple thing to do would have been to leave him for dead and complete the quest, or even not complete it as she could teleport herself back to the temple and take its power for her own purposes. He was still skeptical but at the very least to show his gratitude he could listen to her. "What is it that you are seeking from the great Ninjor?"

Kim turned back, slightly surprised. Now he was going to listen to her? She supposed she shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and she quickly launched into an explanation. "My team on Earth operates off of power coins that are connected to our Ninjetti spirit animals. Years ago, in an attempt to reverse the effects of an orb Master Vile used against the team, the blue coin was destroyed. Since then the remaining five coins were put back into use." Kim paused for a moment to give Ninjor a chance to absorb that.

"The five coins have served us well during the current battle on Earth. But now we need more power than that to destroy Rhianna, the daughter of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa and the granddaughter of Master Vile." Kim purposefully threw Vile's name out again as Ninjor had a reaction to it the first time. "We need to recreate the blue coin in order to put its power with the other five and allow us to use a weapon that, as of now, is our only chance for victory. If we fail Earth will belong to Rhianna."

Ninjor thought for a moment. Her heart sounded true. It was still hard for him to accept it. There was no denying she was demon spawn, even she admitted that she was marked as so. But still if she was really one of Zordon's rangers, a Planetary Ranger, and one of Dulcea's Ninjetti perhaps there was truth to the Muirantian story. Besides she did save his life. And if at any point in the course of recreating the coin it looked as though she was not as true to the path of righteousness as she claimed to be he could always stop working on the coin and banish her. "The great Ninjor, at your assistance."

Kim let out the breath that she had been holding for what felt like hours. "So you're going to help?"

"As long as you prove to be true, I will be able to assist you." Ninjor promised.

"Thank you." Kim replied.

"Come. Let's get started. If the world is in as much peril as you say it is, we will need to move quickly." Ninjor said, walking over to Kim and ushering her into the center of his temple.

* * *

Ninjor glanced over at Kim as they worked on putting the finishing touches on the new blue ranger coin. He had been pleasantly surprised by her. This girl, demon spawn or not, couldn't be evil. He could tell by the way she spoke of things, especially when she told him of Zordon's sacrifice. Apparently he had missed a lot by staying locked away in his temple. In working with her he ended up doing more than he ever thought he would. He was teaching her about coins along the way. Her Muirantian powers were enough to learn how to make coins, but it would take a lot of practice and studying on her part. He never thought he'd let demon spawn in on these kinds of secrets, but if Dulcea mentored the girl then she could learn from him as well.

Kim had been surprised by Ninjor letting her get so close as well. She had assumed he'd lock her out, make the coin, then maybe give it to her. It was fascinating to watch him work. She was picking up a few pointers about coin making. She knew she had the ability to do it. She'd love to try.

Not that she was anywhere close to being able to make a coin on her own. Maybe after they saved the world Ninjor would be willing to work with her some. It would be a nice break from her other training to come to the temple and work with him on occasion.

Of course that meant she would be spending a lot of time with Ninjor. K was right, he was old and senile. His knowledge of coins was still as sharp as ever, it was everything else that was in question. He was a little off now, but she assumed that years ago he was a great warrior. Of course now he was somewhat hard to deal with.

It was no wonder that Zordon had sent them to the student instead of the teacher all those years ago to receive their Ninjetti powers and go for their new Ninja ranger powers. Dulcea had been important, made an impact on their lives, especially hers. Ninjor, well, she wasn't sure how that would have played out. She was glad that she had the opportunity now to meet him. She could learn from him, and he just seemed to be glad to be useful again.

Ninjor glanced over at Kim before lifting the coin up and examining it. "Did somebody call for a blue ranger coin?"

Kim held her hand out and Ninjor placed the coin into it. "It's ready to go?" she questioned excitedly as she looked the new coin over and marveled at it.

"Not quite." Ninjor replied, taking the coin back. "It is going to take a lot of power to connect the coin to the blue ranger powers on the grid. I may require your assistance."

"Not a problem. Let's get this hooked up so I can get things moving on my end." Kim was anxious and ready to go. Scenarios on how this was going to go down were racing through her mind and she felt as though she had to get back. Ninjor, however, seemed hesitant to jump into it.

"Before we do this I would like to ask one thing of you in return." Ninjor spoke as he turned to look at Kim.

"Ok…." Kim let her voice trail off. She had no clue where she was going.

"In exchange for helping you connect this coin, I want to return with you to assist in your battle against evil. It sounds as though evil has a chance and you will need my warrior skills." Ninjor was tired of being cooped up in his temple. And from the stories Kim was telling, it sounded like they could always use a hand in the fight against evil.

Kim suppressed a groan. The last thing she wanted was him bumbling around trying to help and needing more rescuing than anything. The team would never let her hear the end of it. But then again, he did help her make this coin and it appears as though helping the team is his condition. Besides she was desperate to get back and she didn't want to waste any more time arguing. "Deal." She finally replied.

"Do you have someone in mind to take on the power of the blue ranger?" Ninjor questioned. He was curious, he hoped that she had thought about this before.

"I have an idea." Kim replied. She'd thought about it a lot and she knew of a few retired rangers who were always willing to pick up a morpher if called on.

"If your blue ranger has already had Ninjetti powers bestowed on them from Dulcea, their spirit animal will conform to the coin in the same manner that the crane drives your pink ranger morphing powers. The new coin would fit easily with the rest of your powers." Ninjor wanted to give her that piece of advice. It certainly wasn't necessary for the owner of the blue coin to be a Ninjetti. He could create a coin and attach it to the grid fueled by a different source. But they would work much better as a team if all their coins were backed by the power of their spirit animals.

"I think I know just the person." Kim replied with a smile. She had someone on her candidate list. She knew of two former rangers who have permanent Ninjetti powers and weren't on her current team, and only one of them was able to hold full morphing powers.

"Let's connect this coin, then we can go make sure that the offspring of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa will not be allowed to take over your planet." Ninjor said, feeling somewhat triumphant. Kim smiled at him and he went to show her what they needed to do in order to get the blue coin working.

* * *

Over three thousand miles away from the site of the current fight against evil, a former ranger sat in his home enjoying a rare moment of solitude. He usually worked all day everyday primarily on a the set of his hit criminal procedural, spending his hours on a huge lot which housed a drama program as well as two other small shows.

That afternoon they had one scene to shoot and it was an outdoor scene. The rain had no signs of letting up so they dismissed everyone for the rest of the day, and he even let himself have the time off as opposed to looking at some of his other projects. They had worked six days straight and it was well deserved. His wife was in the recording studio until later in the evening and that left him with the house to himself.

For that reason among others he was quite surprised to hear a knock at his door. It wasn't as though someone could just walk up to his front door without him being alerted first. Cautiously he stood and headed to the door. He wasn't sure what to think when he peered through the peephole and recognized his visitor. He opened the door and was immediately attacked.

"Adam!" Kim squealed as she threw her arms around an old friend. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." Adam replied as he peered around her to the blue clad warrior she brought with her. "What are you doing here?" He doubted it was simply a social call since she teleported herself and someone who was most likely ranger related to his front door.

"Can we come in?" Kim asked flashing him a smile. She was in a hurry but at the same time she didn't want to just lay this on him. She had teleported her and Ninjor back to Earth five minutes after she had left. She was lucky she had been able to cut it that close.

"Of course." Adam replied. He waited as Kim walked through the front door, blue guy in tow. He shut the door behind them before leading everyone into the living room and gesturing for them to have a seat. "Who's your friend?" He asked, figuring that was a good a place as any to start.

"This is Ninjor. He made the original Mastodon coin that Zack passed on to you. And he trained Dulcea." Kim gave a quick introduction to who Ninjor was.

If he hadn't been sure this was ranger related before, he definitely was now. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes… well no… the team is in a bind. The world as we know may very well come to an end." Kim replied. It was the frightening truth. If they couldn't get someone to step in as the blue ranger, Rhianna would win and she'd take the position she wanted as queen of Earth.

"And you need my help?" Adam asked. There was no other reason for them to seek him out. It was exciting to be need in some form again.

"You've always said you'd be willing to help." Kim answered with a smile, indicating that the answer was yes. "We've recreated a blue ranger coin and we need someone to step into those shoes. Without a sixth ranger Billy won't be able to get his weapon to work properly and we won't be able to defeat Rhianna. Ninjor said it would work best if the person who took the coin already had Ninjetti powers. And I immediately thought of you."

Everything Kim had said was giving Adam a lot to think about. He couldn't believe that there was a new blue coin. He didn't even think that was possible. And apparently he was the frontrunner for the job. And it was a huge job. Stopping Rhianna was crucial and if his five friends needed to recruit another ranger it had to be serious.

As much as Adam wanted to jump in and help, he was hesitant to say yes. Being a full time ranger was time consuming. He didn't have the luxury of working odd hours to get his job done. And he couldn't afford to lose his job. Plus he wasn't sure what Tanya would think. She certainly wasn't going to be mad at him for returning to help the rangers. But at the same time he hated the thought of leaving her at home alone while he ran off to play superhero.

"I don't know what to say." Adam finally spoke.

"Say you'll do it." Kim spoke quickly. She could tell he had his reasons for not wanting to do it and she could take a guess at what they are. "This isn't a full time ranger position. In fact I hope it's only a one time deal. If we could finish Rhianna off in this battle it would be over. If not, well I promise we'll only come calling in case of an emergency. Like today."

Adam didn't want to put his job in jeopardy but he had a duty to help. He wanted to help. Retired or not he still loved being a ranger. Besides, how many emergencies would they have that required his assistance? And if it turned out to be more time consuming that he thought, he could always tell his boss it was Carri's fault. He doubted that Carri finding away to pull him away from doing his job would surprise Jonathan Hillard one bit.

Adam couldn't help but chuckle at the thought and Kim looked at him oddly. This was a serious situation and she didn't think there was any room for humor. Adam composed himself and gave her a smile. "I'm in."

Kim removed the coin from her pocket and held it out, depositing it into Adam's outstretched hand. They all stood and Kim reached over, grabbing Ninjor's arm before holding her hand out to Adam. "Come on frog boy, we've got a lot of work to do." She said with a grin.

Adam simply rolled his eyes as he held Kim's hand. The new blue ranger got his first look at Kim's Muirantian powers as she teleported the trio back to the west coast.

* * *

Billy was nervous. He was more than nervous. Kim had been gone for ten minutes. The Nova's joined the battle shortly after Tommy took the others back, but it didn't seem like it was helping. Eleven rangers against one witch and the odds still weren't in their favor. It didn't help that Cratus was still hanging around, wanting to get his shots in when he could.

He watched as his friends took hits, some more serious than others. Each time they pulled themselves back to their feet. Rarely did they pop up anymore, it had become a slow and painful looking process that they continued to go through to try and hold Rhianna off long enough for Kim to come back.

He hoped that Kim was coming back with good news. If not they were simply wasting their time. Taking violent hits that would not have been necessary had Kim stayed and the team had worked with him on coming up with some sort of secondary plan. At least they were all alive. For now. His heart skipped a beat each time one of the rangers fell to the ground and appeared not to be moving.

Billy started pacing, his eyes fixated on his viewing screen. He hated feeling as though there was nothing he could do about the situation. As he watched Jason take a particularly nasty hit, three figures materialized in front of him. One he was expecting. The other two were a complete surprise.

"Did Tommy take the others back down to the fight?" Kim asked immediately. She watched as Billy pointed to the screen behind her. Turning she saw that her team was fighting Rhianna and Cratus alongside the Novas. She was grateful that Elemi and the others had made it.

"Did you get the coin?" Billy questioned although he assumed the answer was yes as Kim had returned with two guests, one potentially a new ranger and the other, well, he wasn't sure yet.

Adam held up a blue ranger coin. "I've been called in to the rescue." He said with a smile.

"Can I see the coin? I need to do a scan on it to make sure the morphological energy will assimilate well with the rest of the coins as well as with the weapon." Billy spoke quickly. He had to make sure the coin was up to par before he started putting things into motion.

As Adam handed the coin over Ninjor made an irritated sound. "Are you suggesting that I would have made a coin not up to standards?"

"He's suggesting that if Zordon himself handed him that coin he would still run a check on it before he trusted our lives and the fate of the planet on it." Kim quickly jumped in. Watching her friends take blows made the situation even more urgent to her. There was no time for Ninjor to be, well, himself.

After an excruciatingly long minute Billy returned the coin to Adam's possession ready for its first morph. "The coin is pristine." Billy was extremely impressed. The warrior standing with them had to be a coin master.

"Ha-ha." Ninjor said triumphantly.

Kim rolled her eyes and quickly went into the most important topic. "Is the weapon ready for use?"

"It is going to take me a few minutes to configure the weapon to be used with the sixth coin, but once it is properly configured you should have enough power to fire the weapon, sustain your morph, and continue the fight against Rhianna." Billy spoke quickly, his excitement showing though.

"Should we go help the others?" Adam asked as he looked intently at the viewing screen. Watching his friends taking blows was hard, he wanted to go help.

Kim glanced over at Billy for a moment and Billy gave her a nod. "Assist the team. I will let you know as soon as the weapon is ready."

Wasting no time Kim immediately shifted into ranger mode. "It's morphin time!" She called out and she and the others were quickly on their way.

* * *

The battle with Rhianna was continuing on more fiercely than ever. Kee, Xemmas and Carri had launched an attack that had gotten them suspended into the air, little zaps of energy attacking them at points all over their bodies. Rhianna thought it was amusing to watch them squirm. Although as much fun as she was having, she wished they weren't so damn resilient. They kept getting back up. She wanted them to take their last breath. But with as many of the pesky rodents that were floating around she was having difficulty. They moved too quickly for her to catch them all at once. There was always one that squirmed out of the way to help the others. Eventually they would no longer be able to get up. Eventually they would succumb. It was just way to slow for her taste.

Garan pulled out his weapons and Price followed as both Nova's were rushing to help their fellow rangers. They were joined along the way by Tommy and all three hit Rhianna with every power at their disposal. Rhianna flinched but did not drop her victims until Elemi hit her from above a mere second or two after the last attack. She crossed her arms over her chest in frustration as the three rangers fell to the ground with a thud. At least they weren't moving at the moment. Perhaps that was a point in her favor.

Of course a few of their teammates had already rushed to their side to protect them. She'd have to get through the other rangers then through the protectors before her three latest victims stood. Just as she thought she couldn't get any more pissed off by the imbalance in the numbers, the final member of the ranger team returned.

All action on the battlefield stopped as everyone turned to glance at the newcomers, including the three rangers that had just been pulled to their feet. Rhianna put her hands on her hips. "And I had been hoping you had run away."

"Nope. Just went to go pick up some friends." Kim replied, grinning from beneath her helmet as she gestured to Adam and Ninjor.

"Him?" Cratus questioned as he pointed his sword in Ninjor's direction. He certainly knew of him. Although how or why the old goat would come out of hiding to help now was beyond him.

"Ah so I see you've heard of the great Ninjor." Ninjor replied pulling out his own sword.

Cratus snickered. He'd take him out first. That would be easy. He then looked over toward the blue ranger. Where he came from he wasn't sure. But he did know one thing. "We have been causing pain to eleven rangers. Do you think a freak with Muirantian powers and a pathetic blue ranger are enough to change the odds in your favor?"

Kim had a retort ready but Adam spoke before she had the chance. "Pathetic? I was good enough to defeat her parents, I think I'll be good enough to defeat her."

"Adam." Carri said with a smile as her team immediately realized who the newcomer was.

At the mention of her mother and father Rhianna immediately went to attack the newcomers. Kim and Adam jumped into battle as Ninjor found himself distracted by Cratus. Throughout the battlefield there were murmurs of the new ranger and the coin that somehow got created to allow for him to have his powers. Those quickly died down as the fight was shifting back to full force.

There were two rangers not participating in the resumed battle, one of which was Carri, who was busy agonizing over what she had to do next. She was still morphed as a Planetary Ranger. If they had a sixth ranger it meant that Billy would be able to work on his weapon, which meant that they'd be able to use it as a team. Which meant she needed to switch powers. Which led her to the conclusion that she needed to power down. She didn't want to power down until she was safely on a med bed. She was in a lot of pain morphed, and she would be surprised if something wasn't broken. But she wasn't left with much of a choice.

The other ranger not fighting was Rocky, who had rushed to Carri's side earlier to check on her. He was worried that she was standing timidly off to the side and wasn't the first ranger back in the fight. "Are you ok?" He asked, fearing that this last attack may have been too much.

"Yeah." She said slowly, taking a deep breath. "Cover me." She then wormed her way out of Rocky's grip and figured it was now or never. She powered down and the agonizing yelp she gave as she sunk to the ground was heard by everyone. Reaching back she grabbed her coin and morphed again, thankful that she had some sort of protection for the moment from all the pain she knew she had to look forward to.

Rocky winced as he turned back and saw her power down. As soon as she had transformed into the yellow ranger, he helped her back up. "Let's go." She said, calling for her daggers as she mustered all the strength she could and started to charge back into the battle with Rocky hot on her heels.

Kim watched the duo race past her for a few cheap shots against Rhianna. Her team was going to need a long soak in the hot tub after this. She hoped Billy would be ready soon or else there may not be much of a team left to soak.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her back. She turned to see Tommy standing there. It was always nice to feel his touch. She allowed herself to be distracted by it for a second before focusing back on the battle.

"We can do this." Tommy said. It was the first time he had felt confident since the battle began. If Billy could get his weapon working they really had a shot at winning the battle. His own weapon in hand he headed toward the center of the fight.

Kim was ready to join him when she heard Ninjor cry out in the background. With a groan she turned around to see him bumbling around trying to fight Cratus. She reached out and grabbed the arm of the first ranger who ran by. "Hang on."

"What?" Jason questioned. He was tired, in pain, and in no mood to stop for a friendly chit chat.

"Go give him a hand." Kim said as she gestured over in Ninjor's direction.

Jason followed her glance until he rested on the "help" that Kim had brought with her. Why she brought him, he didn't know. The warrior seemed a bit below par and now he was being sent to babysit him. "Fine." He grumbled, mumbling some choice words as he ran over to assist.

Kim sighed. Ninjor's presence would make sense once they finally got to sit down and explain everything. She grabbed her bow and leaped high into the air, firing a few shots before hitting the ground and rolling out of the way of Rhianna's wrath. She watched as Adam and Aaron took shots at Rhianna right behind her, trying to quickly move out of Rhianna's way as well.

Each of the rangers were trying the same methods. They were attacking Rhianna and trying not to let her fight back. Sometimes it worked, sometimes they found themselves in more pain that imaginable. It was frustrating to everyone, except of course to Jason who was stuck with an objective he'd rather have passed along to someone else.

"You will never defeat us!" Ninjor's voice rang through loud and clear as he picked himself up and stood beside Jason.

Jason snickered. He didn't know about the "us" part of the equation. He was the one doing all the fighting. Ninjor was more or less getting in the way. And not only his way, but he seemed to find his way into the paths of the other rangers. He really thought Carri was going to rip his little blue head clean off. Ninjor did, as he'd stated several times, stand for everything good, and he was actually taking a few shots at Cratus. Jason just wasn't sure how long he would last if left to his own devices.

Twirling his axe around once, Jason started to charge Cratus. He stopped briefly when Tommy and Elemi flew past him, thanks to Rhianna. He didn't even have the luxury of seeing if they were ok as he continued on. Jason found himself once again dealing with Ninjor and Cratus. A few seconds later the two team's leaders were by his side.

"You guys looked like you could use a hand." Tommy said as he took a swipe at Cratus. Both battles were important and he figured if he could help get rid of Cratus they could all concentrate on Rhianna. The more bodies the better.

"Thanks bro." Jason said having a half a mind to take off and leave Tommy stuck with Ninjor. But then he'd get an earful from both Tommy and Kim, and he simply didn't want to deal with that.

As Elemi was joining in as well the communicator in Tommy's helmet started to crackle. Taking a step back, the white ranger went to speak to the only person who would be contacting him. "Go ahead Billy."

"The weapon is ready. Gather the team and I'll teleport it down." Billy spoke quickly. It was quite obvious that there was no time to waste.

"Got it." Tommy said, rushing back to Jason. "I need my team with me, can you handle this?" he questioned as he glanced at Elemi. The red Nova Ranger nodded his head yes as Tommy grabbed Jason and took off.

"What's going on?" Jason questioned. It wasn't like Tommy to pull them out of battle.

"Get the others. The weapon is ready." Tommy said as before running back toward the main battle.

A few minutes later their entire team was gathered around each other, waiting for Billy's weapon and praying for it to be worth it. Within seconds it materialized in their hands. They listened intently to Billy's operating instructions, moving quickly and hoping that Rhianna would be distracted with the Nova's long enough for them to pull this off.

Finally they were ready, and Tommy yelled at the Novas as they were starting to fire. The other team scattered and before Rhianna had a chance to react she was hit with the beam from the weapon. It clung to her and held onto her for a few seconds before finally letting go.

Rhianna hit the ground, immediately realizing that something was off. It felt as though her powers had been ripped right out of her. But that was impossible, she still had the crystal shard securely in place. What this meant, what had happened, she couldn't be sure. What she did know was that thirteen rangers were descending on her and she couldn't defend herself.

Reaching up she called for her staff to come to her. She hadn't thought she'd need it, she thought these powers would be enough. If she made it out of this alive, she wouldn't make that mistake again. She tried to fend off the rangers but there were too many of them. Finally Cratus managed to push his way into the center of the circle, helping her fight them back so they had enough room to escape.

The rangers watched them leave, not sure what to think. Technically it was a victory, but how long would it last? Tommy was the first of the group to speak. "Let's get back to the Command Chamber." The others agreed and in flashes of multi-colored light the rangers were gone.

* * *

The two teams of rangers along with Ninjor arrived in the Command Chamber. For a moment everyone was simply staring at each other through their helmets. Kim was the first of the group to go ahead and power down. Of course she was the only member of the group with Muirantian powers, meaning she healed fairly quickly. Adam, who fortunately didn't have to fight long, powered down right behind her as well as three members of the Nova team who didn't feel as though they were too injured.

As it quickly became obvious that no one else was willing to power down quite yet, the conversation started. "I think it went fairly well." Kim was the first to comment on the day's battles.

Jason snickered. "Yeah we're not all dead so I suppose that's a positive."

"Your weapon worked effectively on Rhianna." Elemi was quick to point out. They were rangers, pain was a part of that. What they did to Rhianna overshadows anything she might have done to them.

"Her powers will return." Billy said glancing at the room of rangers. "I don't know how long it will take for them to collect themselves and stabilize but she will recover to full strength."

Carri snorted. "Great. Just as long as we recover first." If they said she had to go out and fight right now, well she'd do it but there was no guarantee how it would turn out.

"We still have that weapon. So when she does recover we'll be ready. We just need to find another way to get rid of her once we strip her powers." Adam spoke. He was surprised by the power Rhianna had. If it hadn't been for Billy, well they'd probably be looking up to Empress Rhianna right about now. Of course Cratus had helped her to escape, and that was one factor they needed to correct. They had to keep her there and take her down quickly. Hopefully in one try as that would certainly keep him from missing too much time back home.

"The good news is that Callisto is out of the way." Tommy said, listening as the others murmured their agreements. That was something that no one had really thought about since the battle with Rhianna had begun, but it was a victory worth reminding everyone of. "Maybe that will make a difference the next time we battle against Rhianna."

"Let's hope so." Rocky chimed in. He was resisting the urge to jump and scream and shout in celebration of Callisto's containment. No more worrying about when she was going to attack next, or if this would be the time that she finally got her revenge on the team, on Carri.

"Rangers I need to be getting back to my temple." Ninjor spoke up from behind the two groups of power rangers. "Rest assured that whenever there is evil that needs to be vanquished, the great Ninjor will be there to assist you." With that, Ninjor took a bow and disappeared.

Tommy crossed his arms and turned toward Kim. "Would you like to fill us in on who exactly the great Ninjor is? And why he's suddenly helping?"

Kim sighed. She was hoping Ninjor would stick around a while to talk to everyone but she supposed this was the boring part of the day. "Ninjor made the original dinosaur coins for Zordon that we used all those years ago. He also taught Dulcea what she knows. He's a coin master. And Dulcea said that he was the only one with the power to recreate the blue coin and help me connect it to the grid. In exchange for helping, he wanted to fight evil with us."

"Fight?" Jason questioned with a snort. "Damnit Kim I was babysitting him."

"Just because he's old and senile doesn't mean he's not still a warrior." Kim said trying to defend her decision to agree to let him help. Even without being able to see Jason's facial expressions she could tell he wasn't buying it. "And he still knows a hell of a lot about coins so without him Rhianna would still be kicking our asses."

"Just because Marvin the Martian knows a lot about coins doesn't mean he's still any good at fighting evil." Carri pointed out, cracking on Ninjor's voice. "He bumbled around the battlefield and got in everyone's way. In my way. And I wasn't even fighting Cratus."

Kim crossed her arms over her chest. Despite her own reservations on having Ninjor there, she was going to stand by her decision. "Ninjor saved us out there and all he wanted in return was to help. This was my mission, my call, and it's going to stand. End of discussion." There was a red glow in her eyes as she stared at her friends, Jason and Carri in particular as they were the ones with the loudest voices.

"Alright. Fine. I'm just not playing babysitter next time." Jason grumbled. If Ninjor wanted to help, let him help, whatever good it was going to do. This was obviously something Kim was not going to give in on.

Adam noticed the tension between teammates and he decided now was as good a time as any to get back home. Hopefully he would make it before Tanya got home and he'd have a chance to explain to her what was going on before she caught him teleporting into the living room. "I think it's about time for me to get back to New York."

"And for us to return to the ship and tend to our team." Elemi chimed in. He had been inclined to leave as well as his team was going to need medical attention.

"Thank you all for your help." Tommy said, stepping forward as the leader of his team.

"Anytime you need us." Elemi replied, purposefully turning toward Kim and giving her a slight bow before his team teleported off.

"Adam thanks again. And I promise I'll only call in case of an emergency." Kim spoke quickly as to not give Tommy any chance to comment on Elemi.

"Yeah it was great to have you fighting with us again." Rocky added. He loved being able to fight the forces of evil with his best friend once more.

"It's always fun to be back in the action." Adam replied with a smile. If he didn't have other priorities, he'd jump back in full time without thinking about it.

"Here." Billy said extending his hand out and handing Adam a communicator. "This way we can contact you quickly. And you can travel back and forth if necessary."

"Thanks." Adam said as he placed the communicator on his wrist. He paused for a moment and looked at the device. It had been more than ten years since he'd worn one of those. He had to admit, it was kind of nice. "I'll see you guys later."

They watched as Adam was engulfed in a blue light before disappearing. Billy then turned his attention toward the four morphed rangers that were left. "Should we get you all situated on medical beds?"

There was a lot of unintelligible noise as the rangers made their way into the infirmary. None of them wanted to power down, but they were all anxious to take advantage of their intergalactically advanced healing facilities.

Kim followed her friends into the infirmary and watched as they each claimed a seat while Billy started to prepare things for him. She couldn't help but think about how being a demon spawn had advantages and disadvantages. The major advantage, at this point, was that healing was much easier than it was for her friends. They would probably be feeling this battle for a while.

But at least everyone was here and in one piece. Things could have gone horribly wrong today. There were so many factors that had to fall into place. But there was no sense thinking about what if. They had scored a major victory today. Callisto was disposed of, hopefully forever. That should throw a kink into Rhianna's plans.

Of course they had managed to weaken Rhianna's powers as well, however temporary that may end up being. Her powers would return, and she was going to be more than a little angry. There was no doubt she'd come down and seek vengeance on them all. And they would have to be prepared to stop her. But those were worries for another day. For now they'd simply work on recuperating so they could celebrate their victory.


	25. All Hallows Eve

**Disclaimer:** In case you haven't noticed, the rangers belong to Disney, Marie, the Novas and K belong to KSuzie and everyone else is mine :)

Power Rangers Legacy  
"All Hallows Eve"

Rhianna sat curled up in her bed with her favorite stuffed demon tucked tightly under her arm. It had been a rough few days since her last battle with the rangers and she was really at a loss over what to do.

There was a whirlwind of activity once they returned to the palace. Their initial concern had been over Rhianna's powers, but that quickly faded away once some of the Cirranadrones came squawking about Callisto's disappearance. They weren't entirely sure what had happened. Just that she had gone down to the surface, supposedly to fight the yellow ranger, when somehow she got trapped.

Cratus was furious. How did she get trapped? Who trapped her? It couldn't be the yellow ranger. She didn't have that kind of power. Where did they take her? All are questions he screamed at the Cirranadrones, who had no valid answers for him. He had to find out. Someone, somewhere had to have an answer. He was loyal to Callisto and he wanted to see her freed. It was because of this that he took off, vowing not to return until he had answers. That was the last Rhianna saw of him.

Once Cratus was gone, Rhianna was alone. He wasn't there to help her. The bigger point was that Callisto wasn't there to help her. That was rather upsetting. After all, Callisto had been the one who had been guiding her this entire time. She essentially created every battle plan and pushed Rhianna to where she needed to be. And although she had been upset with her as of late she needed her influence in her life.

Without her she had no idea what to do and she had simply retreated to her room. The Cirranadrones were no help. She supposed she could send them out to fight but would that really do any good? After a few hours she could feel her powers come back. But with Callisto gone and Cratus not there to push her she had no inclination to go back out. Besides at the moment she didn't really care. She felt like she was on the top of the world the afternoon of the fight. But things had changed with the blink of an eye.

Now here she was, depressed and lonely, and not really sure what to do with herself. There were the obvious reasons for feeling that way. She had lost the battle. Callisto and Cratus were both gone. Goldar was still gone.

Several hours after her powers came back she realized she needed somebody. She started thinking about Goldar, the one who raised her and truly cared about her, and that's when she remembered he was still locked up in the holding cell. The most positive thing about Callisto being gone was that she was in charge. Meaning she could get down there.

For the first time in the hours since the battle she had felt a surge of hope. Leaving her room she ran down to the holding area. It wasn't long before she realized Goldar was nowhere to be found. She'd questioned the guards, but they simply said he was gone and that they didn't know what happened to him. She suspected they weren't telling, that they were still loyal to Callisto. She hoped he wasn't dead but she feared the worst.

Upon hearing that news she sulked back up to her room where she'd stayed for the next two or three days. She wasn't sure, time hadn't meant much to her. The days she had spent closed up in her room had her thinking. A lot. About everything.

She spent some time thinking about the rangers. At first they made her angry. She blamed them for taking everything from her. But then she really thought about them, about all the times she'd spied on them when it wasn't battle related. And if you took away the fact that they were rangers and battled against her, she came to the conclusion she was jealous of them.

They had friends in each other. True friends, those that were there for you all the time and wouldn't leave you alone in your house, depressed with absolutely nothing. She longed to have something like that with others. She started to wonder what it was like to live on Earth as a normal human. She wanted to be carefree, have no stress in her life like someone her age should. She wanted people who were there for her.

It was a thin line she was walking. For a while she kept thinking about her mission. To conquer Earth like her parents had set out to do. To take revenge on the rangers they fought against, the rangers that spent years working toward destroying them. That completely contradicted her desire to know what it was like to be human.

She battled with that for a long time. Eventually with no one there to correct her, her mission started slipping to the back of her mind until it had fallen away completely. For reasons she doubted anyone else would understand, she wanted to know what it was like to live a normal, human life on Earth. In Angel Grove.

For the last day or so she'd been debating with herself if that was even possible. She was, after all, still Rhianna, evil daughter of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, with a huge target on her back courtesy of the power rangers. But what were the chances she'd actually run into one of the rangers? It was easy enough to see them coming and walk the other way.

It would be simple to change her appearance, make herself look a bit more normal. She dressed the evil part quite nice but she could certainly make herself fit in. Then she could wonder Earth freely. And if the rangers saw her on Earth, what were the chances they'd realize it was her, even if they thought "that girl looks like Rhianna"? If they did think with any certainty that she was, in fact, Rhianna, would they act on it? She didn't think so. If she was caught being well behaved on the surface they should, in theory, leave her alone. She was pretty sure attacking unprovoked broke some sort of ranger rule.

After several days of debate, her mind was finally made up. She was going to pull herself out of bed. And she was going to satisfy her curiosity. She was going to go down to the surface and see what it was like to be human.

* * *

It was early Wednesday afternoon and Kim found herself hunched over her desk in an attempt to get some work done. She was glad to have the opportunity as the last few days had been relatively quiet, at least on the ranger side of things. Which was unusual and she hoped that meant that Rhianna had yet to gain her powers back. The office that day had been a bit louder than usual, which Kim chalked up to the two hour Halloween party they'd thrown at lunchtime, that for some had yet to end.

She didn't know why her coworkers were so eager to celebrate Halloween. She supposed some were just stressed out and appreciated the break. Kim had enough work distractions in her life without taking time away for Halloween and she had simply snuck in and grabbed an orange frosted cupcake, which still stared at her from its spot on her desk.

There wasn't time to party as she had to finish a project that Sandy wanted done yesterday before she could go back to the work she was doing for Ashley. If she didn't get Sandy's work to her soon, she'd never hear the end of it. Although Ashley's opinion counted the most, she didn't want to give Sandy any more reasons not to like her.

She had planned on working on her project over the past weekend but she had never got a chance. Saturday had been a complete wash. The most obvious reason was because of the battles, but afterwards Kim spent the rest of the day watching Billy heal her friends. Despite everything that came with it, she was lucky she was Muirantian. Her teammates had gotten hurt. There were bumps and bruises around and several broken bones which Billy spent a lot of time putting back into place. On top of it all her friends were exhausted. She'd admit to being worn, all the time jumping and exertion of powers tended to make her that way. But she didn't sleep nearly as long as Tommy did that night.

At eleven Sunday morning, when Kim finally climbed out of bed, her boyfriend was still sound asleep next to her. With her seeing no signs of him waking anytime soon, she elected to run some errands. Kim found herself jetting across the galaxy as there were a lot of people she needed to talk to. She needed to wrap things up with Ninjor, as well as fill Dulcea in on everything that happened. She also needed to talk to Elemi, which was something Tommy would never let her do. But they had a lot of things to discuss about the recent turn of events.

She didn't bend time as much as she could, figuring she had done it enough in the previous day and she didn't need to use that much energy again. Although now she supposed she should have, as she would have been able to use some of her Sunday to work. Instead she returned home a few hours later to find Tommy up and moving and more than happy to see her. He was still a bit tired and a bit sore, and she elected to spend the rest of her day with him.

That brought her back around to Monday, the start of the work week, and she was no farther on Sandy's project than she had been on Friday. She hoped to have it finished shortly but only time would tell. Kim let out a sigh as she jumped back into her work, only to be interrupted by a ringing phone.

"Kimberly Hart. How can I help you?" she questioned in her most courteous voice as she answered.

"Hey Kim. Can you come up to my office?" If the voice didn't give the caller away, Kim quickly noticed that Ashley's office extension was where the call was coming from.

"Sure I'll be there in a second." Kim replied, placing the receiver in its cradle. "Crap." She spoke aloud. Ashley was probably wondering how her stuff was coming along. Kim didn't really have any answer for her.

Ashley would probably be ok with the fact that monster attacks pushed Sandy's work behind which pushed Ashley's work behind, but that always seemed to be her excuse. It was quite the valid excuse, and one Ashley understood better than anyone. At the same time, Kim couldn't help but wonder how much more could be put off due to monster attacks before Ashley had to put her foot down and dismiss her. She couldn't help but wonder if Ashley remembered exactly how much time rangering took up when she said that her being active was ok.

Briefly Kim tidied up her work space, stacking a few papers and closing some of her open computer programs, before heading out of her office. As she headed through her floor, she noticed that most of the offices were empty. One glance toward the conference room told her that most of her coworkers were gathering around the remaining Halloween sweets. Kim simply shook her head. Their lunch time party hadn't even been over for a half an hour, yet they were gathering again.

Quickly she made her way up to Ashley's office, where the secretary gestured for her to go ahead and enter. Kim slipped quietly into the office doors, sliding into a chair before giving her boss a smile. "Hey." She greeted casually. She always felt weird being this at ease with Ashley. Most of her employees were nervous around her, always being proper and finishing almost every sentence addressed to her with "Ms. Hammond". Once when Ashley was leaving after stopping by Kim's office to grab something Kim yelled "hey Ash" to get her attention and at least six heads snapped in her direction. She knew what they were thinking. Who was she to call Ms. Hammond Ash?

"Hello." Ashley returned her greeting, giving her a smile. She would admit that her office relationship with Kim was oddly casual to the others, but she couldn't help it. As a ranger she looked up to Kim and she wouldn't dream of having it any other way. Besides she wouldn't mind if she could be casual with all her employees, but some of them had a hard time seeing her as anything but the company owner who had to be treated properly or else they were afraid of being fired.

"What's up?" Kim questioned as she made herself as comfortable as possible in her chair.

"I wanted to talk about your performance." Ashley started the conversation.

Kim suppressed a groan. It was what she was afraid of. Ashley couldn't keep letting her run off to play hero while her work was getting ignored, despite how important she knew that her being a part of this battle was. "Oh?" Kim finally questioned, trying her best to give Ashley a smile.

Ashley leaned into her desk. "We've been doing some survey's and getting some feedback." She started with a grin. "The fall line is doing better than we expected. And people love your marketing campaign."

"Really?" Kim questioned, quite pleased that this was not at all going in the direction that she was afraid it would be.

"The response to your work has been so good I thought it was time to maybe bump you up the food chain, increase your salary." Ashley said with a smile. She loved being able to reward her employees for a job well done. Although Sandy was not too keen on the idea, Sandy still worked for her and she'd have to get over it. She was hoping that a side effect of rewarding Kim would be that Sandy would let her be. Of course Sandy was still Kim's everyday boss, and she couldn't stop her from making Kim's life miserable.

"What? Seriously?" Kim questioned as she sat straight up.

Ashley couldn't help but be confused by the tone in her friend's voice. "Don't act so surprised, you deserve it."

"Well, I mean," Kim took a deep breath to collect her thoughts before she continued, "to be honest I thought you'd called me in here to fire me. I thought you'd finally had enough of me running off to save the world."

Ashley couldn't help the giggling that erupted as she fell back into her chair. Once she was calm enough to speak again she did. "I can't believe you manage to do the quality of work you do and keep up with the rest of the universe. Believe it or not, Andros knows what's been going on behind the scenes. He keeps me informed. You do disappear during the day sometimes but your work gets done reasonably on time and it's amazing. Firing you hadn't even crossed my mind."

"Thanks." It was the only reply Kim could think of. She was happy about the raise and relieved that Ashley hadn't the inclination to let her go. Things seemed to be going good for her lately. Work was good, Tommy was good, Callisto was gone and Rhianna was quiet. She couldn't help but think that her luck would run out. In the life of an active ranger things never stayed that good. But she could certainly enjoy it while it lasted. "So what exactly does all this mean?"

Ashley reached for a folder that was sitting on her desk. "I'm glad you asked." She said as she opened it and pushed it toward Kim. There were two printed pages in there that were the legal documents that defined exactly how she was rewarding Kim. "You read these over and we'll discuss any questions.

"Great." Kim said as she opened the folder and glanced down at the first page. She shook her head to herself as she started reading. She was definitely going to enjoy her string of good luck.

* * *

Carri stood on the curb of a busy street, working on hailing a cab. Finally one slowed for her and she graciously climbed in, giving him a destination before sulking back into her seat. It was a cold, rainy evening in New York and she did not want to be here.

Of course she supposed it was better being in Angel Grove, where the thought of dealing with her cousin was giving her a headache. The lunch she'd had with her cousin on Saturday afternoon had turned out to be a disaster, and she wasn't even made aware of it until much later.

Carri didn't even turn her phone on Saturday night. It was late once she and Rocky finally got back from the Command Chamber and they were both tired and sore and collapsed in bed. She didn't even want to acknowledge the existence of her cell phone. Sunday when they finally woke up they decided to take the rest of the day to themselves. She had no inclination of turning on her cell phone. Anybody she really wanted to talk to knew how to reach her otherwise.

So it wasn't until Monday that Carri actually acknowledged the outside world. Not because she wanted to, but because she had to. She had calls to return and work to take care of before she got on her father's jet on Tuesday to be there for the meetings that encompassed pretty much the entire day today.

The first set of voicemails was from Kat, wondering what happened, where she was, and why she was neglecting to call her back. Against her better judgment, Carri called her back first thing in the morning and they promptly got into an argument. Kat was fuming that Carri picked up and left the restaurant, leaving Kat looking like an idiot with two plates of food growing cold. She finally paid and left right before she heard the monster alarm go off. She informed Carri that if she didn't want to continue their lunch she could've said so instead of using the rangers as an excuse to stick her with the bill.

Carri was livid and the two cousins proceeded to argue for the next half hour. Carri had tried to explain that she had other ranger duties that involved more than just monster fighting and that's what the page was about. She told her cousin that she was sorry she didn't call and tell her she wouldn't make it back, she was kind of more concerned saving the world and stopping Callisto. And if Kat was so upset about paying the extra money for her lunch she'd be happy to send her a check.

Of course Carri's explaining and apologizing when her temper was high didn't come across as the least bit meaningful and Kat continued to argue back. Kat was insulted that Carri thought she had to send her money. She was pissed off that Carri couldn't take the two seconds to send her an "emergency won't make it sorry" text message. And she also reminded her that ranger duties didn't always involve things other than fighting and that she was part of a generation that had Zordon to take care of everything else so in situations like Saturday's her cousin should keep her in the loop.

From there it snowballed and by the end of the conversation Carri had a murderous look in her eye that Mollie couldn't help but notice when she walked in to tell her that one of her crew members was there to see her. Fortunately for that poor sap Mollie sent him away until later. But it didn't matter what time he returned, Carri's day was pretty much soured from there.

She was glad to get on that plane and leave Angel Grove for a while, even if it meant she was going to be in New York. The change of scenery would be good, it would give her a chance to clear her mind. It could be nearly impossible to get off of Kat's bad side, where Carri had been firmly rooted for the last few years. She would have to talk to her sometime after she got back and try to get them to be civil with each other again. Maybe once they both had time to think about it they could talk calmly about it and move on.

At the very least she didn't want to have to endure another lecture from her mother like she'd gotten the previous night about playing nice with her family. Of course she didn't know what exactly gave her mother the right to give that particular lecture. She wasn't exactly friendly to all the family who was "beneath her" now. Although her mother did like Kat as she was considered the polite, sweet, stable one of the Hillard children. Carri couldn't even defend herself. The rangers were her key point and she certainly couldn't stress that to her mother.

At least she hadn't had to see her mother all day. She'd spent her day in and out of meetings with her father and some high end executives that he wanted her to meet face to face with. The majority of it was about _Traveling In Style._ She was meeting with some of the executives from the network who wanted to talk about the second half of her season coming up. She also spent some time meeting with executives from her main sponsor, as well as a group from another company who wanted to jump in on the rest of her season. It was amazing to see some of the positive response her show was getting.

Eventually she got some alone time with her father where they touched briefly on what would happen if the show got picked up for a second full season. Then they discussed some other projects, ideas Carri had bounced around in the little bit of spare time she had. Her father was excited at some of what she came up with. He wanted to filter through them and see what was doable, see what, at some point, they should work on. Carri was so busy with her show but she was excited about the opportunity work on other projects in the future.

The last thing she had meetings on was the movie her company was technically helming. She wasn't lying when she told Jason that her father would make damn sure his book would be a summer blockbuster. There were a lot of things to be discussed about the beginnings of putting a movie together. Carri still had plenty of stuff to do on her end. The more her dad talked the more she was glad Callisto was gone. That was one less threat she had to worry about interrupting her.

Of course she had never done a movie before, and she was well aware that it was going to be different than her television show. She had a lot of stuff she needed to get started on and her father elected to send Josh to California in the next week or two to get her pointed in the right direction. It was going to be nice to have her brother there. If he could help get her organized and pushed forward with what she needed to be worrying about with the movie that would be one less thing she had to think about.

Now that she was officially done with her meetings she wanted nothing more than to board the plane and return home to Rocky, who had been stuck in Angel Grove with work of his own to do. But she couldn't, not yet. Her mother wouldn't allow her to. Perhaps allow is a poor word. Carri hadn't asked her mother's permission to do anything since before they moved to New York. Carri simply didn't want to deal with the consequences should she not adhere to her mother's request.

Her mother's request was simple. Her daughter was to come to her annual Halloween party that night, dressed in costume. And she made a point that it had to be a real costume, and that California girl did not count. Carri didn't know why she wanted her there. Perhaps she thought she could make her rub elbows with high society and she'd fall in love with it and want to be like them. Maybe her mother even picked her out a replacement boyfriend.

She didn't even know why her mother had these parties. She supposed she liked any opportunity to show off to Manhattan while getting drunk. Carri crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. This was going to be a long night. She let out a small sigh as the cabbie pulled up to her hotel, giving him some cash before dragging inside to prepare for the party.

* * *

Rhianna teleported herself to Angel Grove. Giving her hair one last tug, she nervously walked out into a crowd. Although she still looked different than them, she wasn't paid much attention to. The mild goth look she was supporting was accepted, unlike the way she dressed on a normal day to day.

She moved slowly at first, always on the lookout for the rangers. She had checked before she left. Two of them were comfortably at home while two were at work and the last one was in New York. The chances that she would run into them here were slim. Still she couldn't help but be a little bit nervous, especially with the destination she had in mind.

She chose her first Earth adventure based on a place she'd seen the rangers visit on multiple occasions. They seemed to have a good time there so she thought she'd see what the appeal was. Approaching the building she was looking for she was relieved to see that it wasn't too crowded. She was glad that her timing was right.

Rhianna had chosen to have a somewhat late lunch at Bulkmeier's that afternoon. She thought it sounded like a good idea. She'd get to watch humans interact with each other and be forced to interact with her, without running and screaming. And she'd get to try some of this food that the humans were so fond of.

Heading into the front door, she was immediately greeted by a man. She flashed him a smile as she returned his enthusiastic greeting. "Hello."

Skull looked the woman over who was standing in front of him. His best guess was that she was a few years younger than him. But she was legal. At least she looked legal. Which meant he could enjoy how good she looked. "How many today?" He asked as she looked at him confused. "How many eating?"

"Oh." Rhianna said as she blushed, having no idea how simple Earth rituals such as going to a restaurant worked. "Just me."

Skull grabbed one menu and gestured for her to follow him. "So no boyfriend tagging along today?" It was a joke, but it was also the quickest way to probe and see if she was alone or not.

Rhianna quickly blushed again. The company of a male was not something that had ever crossed her mind. She was too busy with the desire for revenge, for ruling the world. Watching the female rangers, it seemed as though that despite the arguments, having boyfriends seemed to make them happier. It was something she'd be open to trying. "No, there's no boyfriend."

They arrived at the table and Skull motioned for her to sit down. As she did he put the menu in front of her. "Your server should be right here." As he walked off he noticed the hostess had returned to her post. Instead of disappearing completely he stayed close by for a moment so he could peek at her.

Rhianna was too busy being overwhelmed by the menu to notice Skull. She quickly realized she had no clue what most of this was. The food she'd grown up on was a bit different. The waitress approached her table and introduced herself. Rhianna looked up as she was asking what she wanted to drink. She stuttered for a moment, it wasn't like things she was used to were served here. Deciding to pick something human to try, she went with the first carbonated beverage on the menu. "Pepsi."

"Great. I'll be right back with that." The waitress said as she turned and left.

Rhianna went back to combing over the menu. She really didn't know what any of this was. Sure she'd had sandwiches before, but none of them sounded like what they'd served. And steak and chicken were not the meats she grew up with, and she'd never had pasta before in her life although the picture reminded her of a stringy substance they mixed in with certain meats.

A few minutes later the waitress returned with her drink and asked her if she was ready to order. For the most part Rhianna was still busy trying to decipher the menu. She looked up and started to stutter, not sure how to answer her. It was embarrassing, all the power she had and she couldn't figure out how to pick something to eat. As she let out a sigh the man who showed her where to sit slid into the booth across from her.

"First time here?" Skull asked. He'd seen her struggling to order. He figured rescuing her was a good a way as any to try and strike up a conversation.

"Yes." She replied, relived that he had stepped in and she was no longer making a fool of herself.

"You should try one of Bulkie's gourmet burgers. Everybody in town swears by them." Skull suggested. Half the people who came in here for lunch did so just for one of Bulk's burgers.

"Yes that sounds good. A burger please." Rhianna said, recalling that the burgers were the meat of the cow, placed on bread with various toppings.

"What kind of burger?" the waitress asked, glancing between the customer and one of the restaurant's owners.

"She'll have the bacon cheddar. With fries." Skull ordered for her as Rhianna glanced curiously at him. "Trust me you won't be disappointed."

"Alright. I'll go put that in." the waitress replied as she scurried off.

As the waitress disappeared, Rhianna found herself staring at the man in front of her. He had yet to leave, and she was wondering if he was there to do more than just place her order. It was actually kind of pleasing. He was good looking and she wouldn't mind his company. Besides, having a one on one conversation with a human would be a great way to experience Earth.

"So." Skull said, turning his full attention toward the woman sitting in front of him. "I'm Eugene Skullovitch. But everybody calls me Skull." He said, pausing so she could introduce herself. When she said nothing he encouraged her. "And you are?"

"Regina." Rhianna replied. She had thought a lot about it in the event that anybody asked. She wasn't about to give her real name and she thought Regina sounded cool.

"Gina. I like that." Skull replied flashing her a smile.

Rhianna grinned, letting out a small laugh. One might think she'd rip his head off for shortening her name like that. But coming from him it seemed ok. Besides, Gina wasn't that bad. "So do you visit everyone's table like this?" She asked, trying to carry on some sort of conversation.

"Just the special people." Skull replied. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the way she presented herself intrigued him.

"And what makes me special?" Unless he knew who she really was, she wasn't special. At least she didn't think so. It seemed odd that he would find her special.

"You're hotter than any other chick in here." Skull said, half joking and half serious. He laughed a little bit as Rhianna blushed.

"Thank you." She certainly hadn't expected to attract any male attention while she was on Earth. But she kind of liked it. She could certainly see the appeal.

"Anyway." Skull said. His mind was made up. He couldn't sit here any longer as he had work to do. But this woman was intriguing and he wanted to know more about her. And what better way to do that than to ask her out. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me tonight?"

"Like on a date?" Rhianna questioned. She was quite intrigued. She had never been on a date before and it might be a lot of fun. Especially one with Skull.

"No… well yeah. Only if you want to. There's this kickin' Halloween costume party downtown and I thought it would be awesome to go together." Skull quickly explained. He hoped that a date was ok. He hoped she was interested. And that she didn't have plans. After all, it was quite last minute.

Rhianna thought for a moment, recalling what that would entail. Out of all the holiday's she'd studied, Halloween was actually her favorite. And they dressed up in costumes, the most popular for female being a witch. She giggled as she realized in that case she could go as herself, although she could definitely get more creative. "I'd love to go."

"Great. I'll pick you up around seven at your place?" Skull suggested. He was excited. If he was reading her right, they were going to have a blast.

"How about we just meet here?" Rhianna questioned. She couldn't think of any place she'd want him to try to pick her up on Earth. It would be much simpler to meet at the restaurant.

"That's fine. We'll meet up front at seven then." Skull replied. Why he couldn't pick her up at home he didn't know, but that wasn't something worth worrying about on the first date. He glanced over to see a few stragglers coming into the restaurant and he realized he had some work to do. "So I'll see you then?"

"Yeah. See you at seven." Rhianna watched as he stood and went back to work. She was quite pleased with the turnout of this excursion. For her first day of trying to be human, things were going pretty good.

* * *

That evening Kim pulled into an open parking spot in her complex somewhat relieved. She had finally finished her project for Sandy and had even got to spend some time starting to work on stuff for Ashley. Enjoying the accomplished feeling, Kim sat in her seat for a few moments where it was nice and peaceful. She noticed that there were a few kids dressed in costume starting to filter through the complex and knock on doors. Kim sighed as she realized she hadn't even thought about candy to hand out. She supposed the neighborhood children would just have to suffer. It wasn't like they wouldn't get enough of a sugar high already.

Climbing out of her car she started walking toward the front door, dodging a few goblins on the way. When she finally reached her front door she let herself in and found Tommy sitting on the couch watching the news.

"Hey." She greeted him as she walked over and gave him a quick kiss before sinking into the spot next to him.

Tommy leaned back and put his arm around her as he returned her greeting. He was glad she was home at a decent hour as he'd had something on his mind since Saturday. Sunday he'd just been too out of it to have a legitimate conversation with her and the last two nights she ended up working late. But now she was home with him. Deciding it was best to ease her into it, he elected to open with an easy conversation. "How was work today?"

"Work was good." Kim said as a Cheshire cat-like smile slowly spread across her face. "Actually it was more than good."

Tommy found himself somewhat surprised. Not that work wasn't good as Kim usually had good days. Even with Sandy being a constant thorn in Kim's side she still completed quality work that Ashley adored and that was good enough for her. But she seemed genuinely excited about something and that was unusual. "What happened?" he questioned as he turned his attention fully toward her.

"I had a meeting with Ashley today and despite protests from Sandy," she paused to roll her eyes, "I've been given a raise. Apparently the fall marketing campaign went exceedingly well."

"Kim that's great!" Tommy exclaimed as he put his arms around her and half hugged her.

"Yeah I'm really excited. It comes with a bit more responsibility which makes me nervous." As soon as she had finished reading Ashley's documents she thought about declining. She didn't want to disappoint Ashley by taking on more responsibilities than she could handle with Rhianna lurking around. But Ashley had insisted that everything would be alright and that she had already thought about that. "I do feel like I slack more than others since I have all those other duties."

"Ashley knows about all the ranger stuff. And she knows that it comes first and that won't change." Tommy replied. Rangers take care of each other. Sometimes they're the only ones who can. They know the real reasons for unexplained absences, gaps in someone's timeline, and other parts of life that have been touched by being a ranger. He was thrilled to hear that Ashley hired Kim, especially as the rangers were starting to go full force again. He knew she'd have to have a more than understanding boss.

Kim didn't reply, she simply nodded and tucked her head into Tommy's shoulder. Although Tommy was enjoying the closeness, he knew this was a good opportunity to go into what he wanted to talk about. "Speaking of your other duties, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What's up? Did we hear anything about Rhianna?" Kim questioned. She had no idea what Tommy wanted to talk to her about that was ranger related. She was kind of hoping Rhianna was it. She found herself with the sudden fear Tommy knew she had spent some time talking to Elemi on Sunday and warranted or not his jealousy was about to kick into overdrive.

"No." Tommy said, thinking briefly how he wished they had. He spent some time with Billy that afternoon and they were trying to see if there was any information about Rhianna to be found. It worried him that they couldn't come across anything and that all seemed quiet on the moon. Something was bound to be happening soon. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about what happened on Saturday."

"About the fight?" Kim questioned. That seemed kind of odd. She didn't think that there was anything to talk about regarding the fight.

"Not the fight about you." Tommy said quickly. "You told me you'd keep me informed when there was progress with your powers that I should know and I've gotten the feeling that I'm way out of the loop."

Kim quickly sat up. "What are you talking about?" she asked getting defensive. "I've kept you as informed as I told you I would." She hadn't mastered any new powers and she was pretty sure the agreement was she'd tell him about things as she mastered them.

About all Tommy knew she could do was teleport herself, which apparently she had been doing a lot of lately. Past that he didn't know anything, including how she did everything that helped them win Saturday's battle. "What about Saturday? The orb? The fact that you helped put a coin together? Bending time?"

"I told you I could move through time. Bending was part of it. As for the rest of it, I didn't know I could do any of that either." Kim said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I still have no clue how my powers activate the orb. I'm not even sure K knows how she did it, and as for the plan itself I was just guessing. And in case I wasn't clear before, Ninjor made the coin. My sole purpose was to channel my powers into helping connect it."

Tommy did recall her mentioning moving through time but the bending time concept never even crossed his mind. Either way he supposed he'd let that slide. "But you can use the orb and you can make coins." Tommy said matter-of-factly as he looked sternly at her. He was aware that there were people out there with these types of abilities, or at least that there had been. It surprised him to know that Kim had the abilities to do things that were reserved for masters. It also brought back up his worries about her powers. Teleporting was one thing but she was learning skills he'd never dream of.

"K can." Kim said pointedly. "Which means I have the ability to. I don't know how to expand my knowledge on the containment orbs. But I do want to learn how to make coins. Ninjor showed me some of what to do. But not enough. I really want to work with him some if he's willing."

Tommy nodded slowly. He couldn't help but wonder how much she had been working with K. He suspected Kim had a really good idea of what she would be able to do that she wasn't divulging. He had only heard of a fraction of what K had been able to dip in to during the brief time he spent in her world. It frightened him that there was so much that these powers could allow her to do.

What he did know that it appeared as though she hadn't broken her word. She hadn't developed anything new that she didn't tell him about, she was just guessing. "I was under the impression you knew more than you did. Saturday was… hectic. And you seemed to have these endless powers and were running off good idea or not on every turn to use them to assist us."

That was the polite way for Tommy to get to what was really bothering him, the one thing that was nagging at him more than the powers themselves. He was the leader of this team and he felt thrown out of the loop as she ran off to do her own thing. She hadn't listened to his opinion on either issue, she'd just taken things into her own hands. And he would admit that things worked out for the best, but he wished she would respect his authority on that team. He knew she was a leader as well, but the other reds on Earth were better at listening to him than she was.

"I'm sorry." Kim apologized. Memories of the hurt look on Tommy's face crossed her mind and she knew she owed him an apology. Did she step on his toes as a leader? Probably. But she got the feeling that he had a hard time accepting her as a red. She was as much a leader as he was and she had more information than he had to make a better decision. Time was of the essence and she wasn't going to waste it arguing it with him. "I realize that I didn't give you a chance to discuss what I wanted to do but I knew enough to make an informed decision, one that had to be made quickly. I know you are the leader on this team and I will try to respect that."

Tommy thought carefully about her response. He could tell that she was sorry. But at the same time he got the feeling that she would do it again. He was going to have to try and be more firm in ranger situations. "I feel responsible for this team and I want to make sure everything we do is the best course of action. You obviously have a new knowledge base that I don't, but since you can bend time we can talk for a minute before you rush off."

"Fine." Kim replied. She didn't want to argue with him about it. She was going to do what was best as well and she was hoping their definitions of best would coincide. "I'll give you as much as I know and you can give me your opinion next time before I take off."

"Fine." Tommy replied, feeling as though they were at a stalemate.

Kim stood, not wanting to debate the issue further. She didn't think either of them was completely satisfied but she'd try her best to remember to respect him as a leader and she hoped he'd do the same for her. That way they wouldn't have to have this conversation again. With a sigh she headed into the kitchen. "I'm going to make dinner." She said as she disappeared. Maybe some food would lighten the mood and they could enjoy the rest of their evening.

* * *

Rocky pulled into the driveway of his family home. His mother had been, for weeks, trying to get him to come over for dinner. But between work and rangering he simply hadn't had the time. With Carri out of town he knew he could slip out of work early and not have any other plans. He figured that Halloween was a good a night as any to sit down and have dinner with his family.

He had a feeling that his mother wanted to sit him down and discuss things. He hadn't really spoken to her since she came across that tabloid article that painted a less than flattering picture of what his fiancé was up to in her spare time. Of course when the article came out she was only his girlfriend, and since then he had proposed and he had to assume his mother had a million questions for him that she didn't want to dive into over the phone.

Cutting the engine off, he glanced around at the neighborhood children running around in costume. He couldn't help but think about when he was growing up. He remembered running down this same street in costume, hitting up every house in the neighborhood and begging for candy. His mother used to tell him he was going to rot his teeth out if he ate it all. Then overnight he was too old for trick-or-treating anymore and he started taking his siblings out, a tradition that continued until he got into college and his younger brother took over.

Rocky stepped out of the car and headed toward the front door. He was surprised as he entered to find all of his siblings under the same roof at the same time. It was a rare sight, in fact as far as he knew Christmas and Easter had been the only times they'd all been there together since Matt and Christina went to college. He was somewhat surprised to find Matt's girlfriend and Christina's best friend sitting around his mother's oversized table as well.

"Rocky, it's good to see you." His mother greeted him enthusiastically as she spotted him. She walked over and gave her oldest son a hug. She couldn't believe that she'd managed to get all her children together for dinner. Although Matt had insisted on bringing Jamie and Christina said that she and Marie would drop by for a quick bite before they ran off to a Halloween party. Although the younger children wanted to go party as well, they still lived under her roof and she had a little bit more control over how long they would have to stay at the table. "Come, sit, we were just about to eat."

Rocky watched his mother scurry off to gather the remaining dishes for dinner as he went to sit with his siblings. His siblings greeted him with hellos, with Jamie giving him an enthusiastic wave with the hand not attached to his brother and Marie smiling and giving him a cute wave and bat of the eyelashes.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Thomas asked as he looked over at his older brother. Matthew had dragged his girlfriend along and he'd half expected Rocky to do the same.

"In New York on business." He replied quickly. He knew he should bring her by for dinner sometime to see the kids. Although his mother still had her doubts he knew his brothers and sisters would love to see her, especially the younger ones as she'd babysat them a few times during their senior year.

"She's not his girlfriend anymore she's his fiancé now." Jamie corrected as Matt rolled his eyes. She realized that the men in the room probably could care less about the difference in terminology.

"Oh yeah." Lizzie said, eyes lighting up. "I can't wait until you guys get married and we get to wear the dresses and get our hair done and"

"That's enough." Isabelle said, setting the final dinner plate down as she quieted her daughter. Although she did want to address her son's getting married. She still wasn't convinced it was the right thing to do. Despite what he had said before, she continued to read the tabloids to see what Carri had been up to and although they weren't horrible, she still wasn't convinced she wouldn't break his heart again. There was a moment of silence as she took her seat at the table and said grace, before clattering was heard throughout the table as the kids started filling their plates was food.

"Thank you momma." Rocky said as he piled his plate high. It was nice, it had been a long time since he'd had a real home cooked meal. Carri's idea of cooking was usually Bulkmeier's or something along those lines, and occasionally they'd grill out or he'd cook something but it wasn't the same.

"You're welcome." She replied as she looked over at her son. As her children started scarfing food down, she decided it was a good time for a little small talk. "So Carri is in New York?"

"She took off yesterday and she'll be back tomorrow." Rocky replied casually. He was curious as to what his mother was thinking. She was probably getting to the real reasons she wanted to see him.

"And you didn't go with her?" Isabelle questioned her son. It sounded quite odd to her. She was having trouble trusting Carri and it bothered her that she ran off to New York without the man she was engaged to.

"I've got work to do here and she just flew up go have a business meeting with her father and to see the rest of her family." Rocky explained. He had wanted to go but it was last minute and he had too much of his own stuff to attend to.

"And you trust her in New York? There is a lot that goes on there." She was trying not to bluntly ask the question in front of his siblings. But Carri had already proven that she would break his heart and despite Rocky's assurances she constantly worried that Carri would cheat as so many of the tabloids she read had indicated. She doubted the girl in high school would but now she was afraid that Carri had been corrupted by the world she worked in.

"Of course I do. I know there has been a lot of reading of the tabloids around here and I know they still aren't sure if she's capable of being faithful or not but I promise you there isn't a grain of truth in them. Ask any one of our friends." Rocky spoke quickly. He really didn't want to have this discussion at dinner. He should have said Carri was working late instead of in New York. "We love each other and we're getting married. That's the most important thing."

Isabelle said nothing. Her son was not going to budge on that issue. She had been well aware of it from the start, but she wanted to bring it up anyway. She couldn't stand the thought of him getting his heart broken. She glanced over at Marie and realized that if she could have gotten him to wonder exactly what his fiancé did in New York without him, that maybe he'd give her a second glance. Marie came from a similar family background and she thought she was better suited to Rocky. But she wasn't the one he was madly in love with, and without solid proof she wouldn't interfere. She could ask questions though. Like the one that had been bouncing through her head since two Sunday's ago. "Are you getting married at our church? I heard you haven't reserved anything yet. You need to look into it soon, it's a popular for weddings."

Rocky cringed at the sudden change of topics. He had yet to tell his mother that he'd given in to Carri's request for a beach wedding. So far that was the only thing she'd been adamant about, and although she claimed it had to do with Kim he got the feeling that it had a whole lot to do with her as well. And although the Kim point was persuasive, he knew she'd be miserable doing what she needed to do in order to go through with the Catholic wedding and he didn't want to push her into it. Besides he was afraid that she'd back out of the whole thing if he tried and although a Catholic wedding was important to him, it wasn't as important as marrying her. "We're not getting married at the church."

"Have you found a new church?" she questioned. He hadn't been attending services as regularly as he should and although most of her older children were, much to her disappointment, simply skipping, it was possible that Rocky had found another place to go. Although she would admit to being disappointed if they didn't wed in the church their family had been going to since before Rocky was born.

"No." Rocky replied with a sigh. He was going to have to tell her. It might as well be now. "We're not getting married in a church. Carri and I have decided to get married on the beach."

"What?" his mother questioned harshly, silencing any conversation going on around the table. There were a lot of things she thought he'd say but that wasn't it. "You cannot get married outside of the church, I won't allow it. And"

"Mom." Rocky cut her off. He certainly didn't want to argue this here. The decision was made and they weren't going to change it. "It was our decision and it's what we want to do. We are still going to get someone from the church to preside over the ceremony." Although it wouldn't be from the Catholic Church as that was simply not allowed.

"You were born and raised Catholic and if you are going to get married you have to do it properly, in the Catholic Church." She paused, thinking back for a moment. That was one of the things she was never thrilled about with Carri that she wasn't Catholic and if she remembered correctly she hardly went to church at all. This had to have been Carri's idea. Her boy would not go against his religion like that. "I know this was her choice and I will not let you give up your religious beliefs for that heathen"

Rocky slapped his hand down onto the table, cutting his mother off. He knew she was not going to be happy about the church issue but he was not going to let her sit there and address Carri like that. They would have to have this conversation sometime between the two of them, when they could be more civilized. "Thank you for dinner." He said as he stood, his plate half full. "But I need to get back to work for one of my students."

He said a quick goodbye to all of his siblings, most of who were gaping between himself and his mother. He could tell that his mother had a lot more to say but before he gave her a chance to utter another word he told her goodbye and made a beeline for the front door. When he was safely sitting behind the wheel of his car he let out the breath he'd been holding. He knew this would be a major issue for his mother and he had to figure something out. He hated arguing with her. Hopefully she'd think about it and they could talk about it without her slandering Carri. With a sigh he started the engine and headed home.

* * *

Carri found herself riding up the elevator to her parent's floor. She was late, mainly because she didn't want to be there in the first place. She was already agitated and she hadn't even made it up to the party yet. She spent an hour hunting down a costume. This late in the day witch was all she could find. She was a sexy witch, she'd give it that much. But the costume was tight leather with high heels and a hat to match. It was uncomfortable and one look in the mirror made her feel as though she was fighting on the wrong side.

Already grumpy about the costume, when she arrived in her parents building she was told that to even be allowed onto the elevator to go to her parent's place she had to be on the approved guest list. Of course her mother hadn't bothered to add her name in as she was a last minute addition and Carri's temper was going to explode right then and there. She lived there for three friggin' years, she still had a room and clothes and stuff but yet she had to wait fifteen minutes for someone to get a hold of her father so she'd have permission to enter.

When the elevator doors opened the first person she spotted was her mother and she had a hard time resisting the urge to march over there and tell her exactly what was on her mind. Instead she calmly walked up to her mother, who was standing in the center of a circle of friends martini in hand, and plastered a fake smile across her face. "Hello mother."

"Carri." Rebecca said, glancing her daughter over. She was glad that she had shown up, and in costume as she had been instructed. With Carri she never quite knew what to expect. "I am glad you could make it."

"Thank you." Carri said, ignoring the fact that she wasn't really given an option. "Although I didn't think I was expected, I wasn't even on the guest list."

Rebecca gave her daughter somewhat of a smile. She hadn't intentionally left her off the guest list. But she had been quite busy making sure everything was perfect for her party and as far as she was concerned her daughter would have to get over it. "I am so sorry about the mix up." She overemphasized the apology for the crowd. "But you're here now and that's what counts. You should mingle some."

"Of course. I have to go say hello to everyone." Carri said politely as she walked away. Not that there was anyone there she cared to say hello to. The few people she knew in the short time she lived there had contributed to her running away from the city screaming, and everyone else were her mother's new friends who helped her to become the woman she was today.

With a sigh Carri headed over to the beverage table. It was well past time for a beer. She waited for her cold beverage to be handed to her, then she took one large gulp. She couldn't help but wish that it was enough to make the entire evening disappear. She shook her head as she turned around and almost ran smack into someone who was dressed for the seventies.

The man she almost hit grabbed her by the shoulders in some sort of effort to steady her before gently pushing her back. "Carri, hey, it's so good to see you."

Carri looked down at the beer in her hand. She wasn't one to get drunk, but right now she really felt as though she needed five more of those to make it through the night. "David, how are you, it's been a while." Not long enough.

"Yeah I don't think I've seen you since, well since I was in California all those years ago. I've heard you've been busy." David replied as he grinned at her.

Carri resisted the urge to groan. She had forgotten how David's mother became part of her mother's social circle. Her mother tried to tell her about him and she wouldn't listen. She was sure he ate up every tidbit his mother came home with. "Spend most of my days working on my show now. It's a lot of fun. I'm thrilled to be able to do something like that out in Angel Grove." He couldn't possibly still be after her to move back to New York but she thought she'd put it out there that she was firmly rooted in California before the conversation got started.

"That's good. I've seen your show, it's really good." David complimented her. "And I hear you're getting married? To that guy I met?"

The tone in his voice suggested that he didn't approve of her getting married and that made Carri all the more eager to rub it in. "I'm marrying Rocky, the guy you kind of met the day Josh hit you on the beach. We've been together for most of the last ten years. He's the only man I've ever loved." She paused to watch the look on his face before she asked him a question. "What about you? Married? Have a girlfriend?"

David was a little angry by the insinuation that she didn't love him but he shook it off. "Yeah I've been married three years now. I would introduce you but Missy is home sick with the flu."

"Too bad." Carri said, thrilled he wasn't here to hit on her. Now she could concentrate on worming her way out of this conversation. "Anyway, there's a ton of other people here I should converse with so"

David put his hands on her arms gently, letting them fall down to her wrists as he grabbed them a bit roughly and smiled at her. "You look smoking hot in that costume." He ignored the look she gave him and continued. "I was thinking, Missy isn't here, Rocky isn't here, maybe we could head upstairs for a while for old time's sake."

Carri was speechless. Although she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised, she knew the crowd he ran with, knew a lot of them weren't exactly faithful. But she was pretty clear that she was happily with someone else, something she thought she beat into his head a long time ago. She didn't know what she wanted to say. Well she did, but she was really leaning toward crunching his nose worse than she did Jessica's.

Before she got the opportunity to make that decision they were interrupted. "Who's this hot chic? I thought I knew all the sexy ones."

Carri turned just in time to catch a glimpse of her brother, dressed as though he'd just come from the Renaissance Faire. Josh walked up to them and grabbed his sister's wrists, pulling them out of David's hands. "If you'll excuse me I need to borrow the witch for a moment."

"Thank you." Carri said as they were walking away. "I was three seconds from ruining mom's party."

"Yeah but I bet it would have been fun to watch." Josh replied with a grin. He was pretty sure she didn't care as much about the fact that David was chummy with her mother than she did when she was in college.

"Oh yeah. Blood everywhere. A grown man crying. It would have been quite the show." Carri replied. It was the best and most direct response she had come up with.

Josh laughed out loud. His sister could defend herself, he knew that, and the thought that she would have taken her wrath out on David made him want to go find the bastard and bring him to her. He glanced back, pretty confident that David had gone elsewhere as he turned back toward his sister. "So I hear I'm helping you with the movie."

"Yes. Dad said you could fly out sometime soon to get me pointed in the right direction with the movie." Carri gave him the real simple version of what she and her father had discussed earlier in the day.

"I can do that." Josh replied, giving his sister a look. He had to ask the question. "How in the world did you score the Luke Kirk book in the first place?" That thing had been all over the news, he knew several people that read it and couldn't stop talking about it, and he had to imagine that every major company was fighting to get their hands on it. Yet his sister's brand new company with merely one successful show under its belt got the rights to turn the book into a movie, along with the rights for his other books.

Carri grinned up at her brother who couldn't help but notice the mischievous look in her eye. "I have my resources."

"What you're sleeping with Luke Kirk?" Josh questioned, half joking half serious. It would make perfect sense.

Carri scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "No I am not sleeping with Luke Kirk." That was absurd. Besides the fact that she was not a cheater, she didn't think she could have that kind of relationship with Jason any more than she could with Josh, she'd spent too many years loving him like a brother.

"Fine." Josh replied with a chuckle. He doubted she was anyway, but he just had to ask. "So when do you want me to fly out there?"

"I'll have to check." Carri replied. She hadn't really given it any thought seeing as how it was just brought up that afternoon.

"And I can stay with you?" Josh questioned. He was almost positive that no one lived in her spare bedroom, not since Kim moved out. He smiled to himself as he thought about the last time he was in that bedroom. The sex was pretty amazing. He had to admit, he had been disappointed that Kim wanted to have a monogamous relationship with someone else. Of course he had moved on pretty quickly and as far as he knew Kim was happy so he wasn't inclined to push the issue.

"Of course. I'll have the princess room prepped and ready." Carri said with a grin, referring to the fact that her grandmother always called that set her princess furniture.

"Can't wait." Josh replied as he smiled over at his sister.

Before Carri could make another comment, someone else decided to join their conversation. "There you two are." Jonathan said as he approached his children. "I've been looking for you." He knew Carri had finally arrived, he'd had to approve her entry into the party. Josh had been there early, drinking and flirting with whoever crossed his path.

"Yup. Just chatting." Carri said smiling at her father.

"There are some people who want to see you and meet you." Jonathan said, glancing first toward his son before looking over at his daughter.

Josh's response was drowned out by Carri's sarcastic "oh yay!" as she took another swig of beer. She was not in the meet and greet mood but she had no choice as she followed her father off. This night just keeps getting better and better.

* * *

It was dinnertime in Angel Grove and Jason found himself sitting with Emily at the bar they usually went to. They were having dinner for the first time since Rhianna's attack and Emily was going to stick around for a few drinks before she had to head home to get ready for work. It was just as well, the bar was having a Halloween costume contest and party that started in a few hours. There was a DJ setting up and already a few customers in costume were wondering in. Jason would be happy to get out of there before the craziness began.

"So." Emily stated with a smile. They were past the small talk for the night and it was time to shift the conversation elsewhere. This was their second official date, with the first one having gone exceedingly well. They had a nice dinner, a good talk, followed by an amazing couple of drinks in the hot tub. She was so glad that they were back on the right foot. She wished she could stay longer tonight but she had to be up early in the morning. "I'm glad we could do this again. I had a lot of fun Friday night."

"Me too." Jason agreed. He was glad they were going out as a couple again. Although he was slightly disappointed that this date wasn't going to end in the hot tub. Or anywhere else in his house that they could be alone together.

"I hate that the rest of the weekend was such a bust." Emily said with a frown. She had wanted to see him again Saturday night, but he was recuperating through Sunday night, the night she already had plans with her girlfriends. The last two nights she worked late and this was the first time they had the opportunity to see each other.

"Well it happens." Jason wasn't thrilled with the fact that they got their ass's kicked so bad Saturday that it ruined the rest of the weekend but it was part of the job. "We've got to save the world and all."

"Yeah." Emily said quietly as she thought about his statement. Up until Saturday she'd forgotten how hard it was to date a ranger. Being on the outside, sitting there plastered to the television watching as the attacks were going on. And Saturday was particularly rough as for the most part she watched him and his friends get shot at and tossed around like they were play toys. Worst of all she didn't hear from him until well after the battle. He'd had some injuries that needed healing, and even after he called her he still didn't have the energy to do much besides sleep.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. He picked up on the sad tone in her voice. Him being a ranger had put a major strain on their relationship all those years ago. He knew she had been uncomfortable with him putting his life on the line everyday as he ran out to be a hero. And it was hard for her to understand that it was who he was. He loved her but he wouldn't, he couldn't change that.

He thought this time around would be different. After all, the last time they dated she spent the first year not knowing he was a power ranger. She may have never known if he hadn't gotten attacked while with her, his choices being to morph or die. He realized that being a ranger was a big secret to keep from someone, and that it was probably hard to process a year into a relationship. But this time there were no secrets. She knew well before they went out that he was a ranger again. And he was hoping that she'd have a better grip on it this time.

"Nothing." Emily replied as Jason gave her a look. She sighed and elaborated. "Saturday was kind of hard to watch on TV that's all. You guys weren't doing very well."

Jason couldn't help but snort. "That's an understatement." They had been really lucky on Saturday to all make it out in one piece. He glanced at her as she still seemed deep in thought and he continued. "But you're ok with what I'm doing? Because if this thing between us has a shot, you have to accept my second job."

"Yes. Well, as ok as I'm going to be. I know that's important to you. It doesn't make it any easier to watch." Emily replied. They had yet to discuss his being a ranger in terms of their relationship but she figured now was as good of a time as any. "I'm not going to tell you to quit, or get angry with you when you have to take off. That's part of who you are, and it's a part that neither I nor any other woman will ever change. You wouldn't give it up and I won't ask you to. That doesn't make it easy for me to sit there on days like Saturday and watch the news, watch you get hurt and get up slowly while praying you'll make it out ok."

Jason found himself somewhat surprised. That was the answer he wanted to hear but it wasn't the answer he thought she would give. He was glad that she was going to be alright with him being a ranger. "I appreciate that. I can't say I know how you feel, but I do know that it's hard to be there and watch my friends take a beating like that. I can only imagine that it's worse to not have any idea what's going on."

"Just a little bit." Emily said with a smile as she reached out and clasped his hand in hers. Sometimes it felt impossible to be in that position but she cared about him enough to do it.

Jason was a bit startled at first, but then he looked up and smiled back at her. Their moment was interrupted as a group of rowdy college kids from the community college came into the bar in costume ready to party. "Next time we want a quiet dinner we should try Bulkmeier's." This was the first time that it hit him that now that his friends knew about Emily he could take her to the restaurant without worrying over running into them and, well, having the girls explode like they did in the bar.

"Isn't that where all your friends go?" Emily questioned as the corners of her face tweaked up into a slight smile. He had mentioned it before and she knew that was where the rest of his team hung out, the ones who had condemned her for life after what she had done to Jason. She hadn't really blamed them for not wanting anything to do with her. For a while she hadn't wanted anything to do with herself.

"They do eat dinner there quite often." Jason said as he thought about it. Emily used to be such good friends with Carri, and she had even gotten to know Kim pretty well on the weekends they were both in Angel Grove together. They seemed to be ok with them going out again, maybe they'd give her another chance. Maybe he could gather the rest of his team and they could all have dinner together. "Maybe we'll meet them there sometime."

"Maybe we can." Emily said with a smile. It would be nice to talk to them again, although she wasn't sure they were ready to talk to her. But if Jason thought that they were she would certainly trust his opinion.

Jason looked up at her and smiled. His life over the last few years had changed so much. But this year everything felt as though it was falling back into place again. And with him finally having a girlfriend he could talk to, he felt as though things were close to complete. Although he never thought that girl would be Emily. But after everything they went through, they were back together again, and this time they might just have a chance.


	26. Looking Ahead

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Looking Ahead"

It was early on a Tuesday morning and Carri lay comfortably underneath her covers, Rocky's arm draped over her. She was in a deep sleep, barely noticing the rhythmic pounding coming from the other side of the door. She found it quite nice actually, until it started getting louder and louder and finally she couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright I'm awake!" she yelled loudly, not trying to hide the irritation in her voice as Rocky slid his arm off of her and migrated back to his side of the bed.

"I thought we had work to do today." Josh yelled through the door. He was picking on his sister by waking her up, but they did actually have a lot to get done. In the week and a half that had passed since she flew home from New York he'd spent some time looking at her files, seeing what she had done and what she needed to do. And if she wanted to get what she wanted to do done in the few days he was going to be there, they needed to get started.

Carri grunted. "Whatever. Just go away and I'll get ready." She called back to him before throwing the covers over her head. "Just because he's on east coast time doesn't mean the rest of us are." She grumbled. He had flown in the day before and to him it probably was time to get up and start working.

Rocky chuckled as he went to pull her covers back down. "It's not that early and it is probably a good time to get moving." He pointed out.

"Says you." Carri replied, shooting him a look before giving him a sly grin. Rocky smiled back at her as he leaned over and pushed some of her static charged hairs back down. She let out a sigh as she pulled herself into a sitting position. "I suppose I should get ready before he bursts into the bedroom and drags me kicking and screaming."

"Your brother wouldn't do that." Rocky replied as Carri rolled her eyes. He shook his head and she snickered. Before she could comment, the muffled sounds of the television filtered in from the living room and through her bedroom door.

Carri let out a grunt as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I hope he knows if he breaks it he buys it. Or a bigger and better it." She figured her brother was trying to entice her to get up with the noise, but if he blew her speakers out she was going to march right out there and kick his ass.

Rocky chuckled. If the two siblings were going to be like this, it was going to be an interesting visit. "So how long did you say he was staying for?"

"Who knows. In theory he'll be gone by the weekend but that's assuming he doesn't find any females to chase." Carri replied. He was only supposed to help her for the next three days. He was needed back in New York at the start of the week to work on his own stuff.

"You mean if he doesn't hook back up with Kim and spend the next three weeks in her bed." Rocky joked as he referenced Josh's last visit. Carri shot him a look and he just grinned at her.

"Please that is definitely over. And you know Tommy, if the thought even crossed Josh's mind I'd have to hold our fearless leader back to keep him from breaking both of my brother's legs." Carri replied. Of course the only way she was going to hold Tommy back is if she was morphed and he wasn't, but that was a whole different story entirely. She let out a sigh as she thought about how grateful she was that she didn't have to worry about that.

Kim was happily with Tommy. And even if she wasn't, she doubted that she'd give Josh a second chance. It wasn't that she didn't like Josh, it was that Josh was, well Josh. Although her brother really loved Kim, he was still a party boy and she wasn't so sure he kept his eyes, among other parts, to himself while he was in New York and Kim was in Angel Grove. That wasn't what broke them up though. Tommy was what broke them up. Well she broke them up using Tommy and while she felt guilty about how things went down she was glad that Kim and Tommy were back together again.

"Does Kim know that Josh is here?" Rocky questioned. In the brief time that Josh had been in California, Kim's name had yet to come up. He couldn't help but be somewhat curious.

"No." Carri replied as Rocky gave her an odd look. "It's not like she's not allowed to know. I'm sure I'll tell her eventually."

"You can't not tell Kim." Rocky pointed out. He doubted there was a secret between them and for a number of reasons Kim would be upset if Carri didn't tell her. "Unless of course you really are worried about sparking old feelings."

"Of course not." Carri said with a huff. Her brother didn't have any lingering feelings for Kim anymore. She had bluntly asked him about it before she left New York. Although he had been upset for a while, he had since moved on. That didn't mean he was interested in seeing her with Tommy. Or that he wouldn't be interested in a fling should he run into her. Her brother still thought she was cute, and he was quite capable of sex without any emotional connections.

Carri sighed. "I am going to mention it to Kim." It was entirely possible that Kim would want to see him. That was assuming that Tommy wouldn't go ballistic. Which he would. Anyone who knew Tommy could pick up the jealous anger in his eyes anytime Elemi wanted to talk to Kim alone. And they hadn't slept together. Of course it was also possible that Kim simply wouldn't care. But they did break up over the phone. She may want the chance to see him face to face, if for nothing more than to say hello.

"Good. If Kim and Tommy are really as happy as everyone says they are, Kim's not going to care at all." Rocky replied. He had to assume that was the case. He had known the duo a long time, through both previous breakups, and they seemed happier now than they had at any point.

"I suppose you're"

Carri's response was cut off by her brother. "You ready yet!" he yelled from the living room.

"I'm coming!" Carri yelled back, forgetting her last thought as she threw her covers aside. She was cursing under her breath as she slid out of bed and stomped into the bathroom.

Rocky smiled and fell back into the pillows as he watched her walk away. He was glad he wasn't the only one with family issues. Of course he wasn't used to having family issues. He supposed at some point he would have to figure out what to do. He was pretty sure there had been enough cooling off time but he wasn't sure what to say to his mother.

He seriously doubted anything he said would appease her. Well that was wrong. She'd be happy if he said that he was wrong and he'd changed his plans to a Catholic Church wedding. But as much as he wanted to make his mother happy, that was something he just wasn't going to do. He was hoping that she'd come to accept and respect his decision. Because as much as he loved his mother, this was his and Carri's wedding and what Carri wanted was much more important.

He shook his head as he thought about Carri. She was going to have a fit when he told her about what happened. He realized that it had been a while, and that he should have told her already. But how do you tell someone that your mother thinks they are a heathen and demands that you do something their way. That would send Carri's anger into overdrive on a good day. He sighed as he heard one of the bathroom cabinet doors slam shut. Maybe tomorrow he could talk to her about it.

* * *

A former demon found himself walking purposefully through a place that he never thought he'd actually find. It wasn't easy. Perhaps the simplest of his tasks had been breaking free of his captors. He was right about the chaos. When it started the attention was quickly shifting away from him. Escaping had proven to be simple.

He still wasn't completely sure what had happened that led to the chaos. What he did know what that there wasn't anyone to be found in the palace other than a few of Callisto's flunkies. He desperately wanted to find out where Rhianna was, what had happened to her, but that wasn't part of his plan. If he got caught checking up on her, he'd never be able to help her.

Instead he started off on his second task, the one that had been quite difficult. He was hoping that it would have been quick and easy, instead it took over two weeks and he prayed that it wasn't two weeks too long.

Most of his time had been spent doing an information hunt, and after doing quite a bit of digging he had found what he was looking for. Everyone he had once worked with was alive and well and purified like he had been. They were all still working together as far as he knew. All being Zedd, Finster and Rito. Rita had found it difficult to live permanently in the human world. She lived out the majority of her days in her palace in the Mystic Realm. She no longer wanted to go by Rita, she was Mystic Mother, a huge force behind good magic.

It had put a smile on his face to know that she was able to put her skills to good use after the Zordon wave. Now all he had to do was find her and talk to her. That hadn't been easy. He thought about rushing to Zedd first, telling him and the others in hopes that they would lead them to her. And although once this was all said and done he looked forward to having a few beers with old friends, he decided that now wasn't the time to pay them a visit. Rita was the one with the powers who could help, and he wanted to go straight to her without worrying Zedd over it just yet.

So after some searching he'd found someone else who had access. It wasn't easy, but he had convinced them to help him get to Rita. He wasn't sure if he was trusted, but he figured they knew Rita would destroy him if he was evil before he got a chance to do any damage.

After all that, he found himself walking around the white palace, approaching a woman dressed head to toe in white. "You're a hard woman to find." He said, his voice gruff.

Mystic Mother spun around and looked at the man standing in front of her. She didn't recognize him. He looked as though he'd just stepped off the beach and into her palace. Yet there was something familiar about him. Until she was sure, she'd have to approach with caution. "Maybe that's because I don't want to be found."

"Whatever." He said with a shrug. There were more important things to talk about.

"Who are you and how did you find me?" Mystic Mother questioned. He was casual and calm and she couldn't quite pin him down.

"Empress Rita, you don't remember?" he questioned. He was hoping she would recognize him. It would certainly take care of several steps of explaining.

"It's Mystic Mother." She corrected him quickly as she looked him over. No one had called her Empress Rita in years. Not since "Goldar?" she questioned aloud as the former monkey shook his head yes. "They told me you were dead… you and my daughter… is she alive? Is she with you?" In the hours before the Zordon wave Astronema told her that Goldar's ship, the ship that was carrying her newborn daughter to safety before the final battle began, was destroyed by a rogue team of rangers. She had been devastated, and even more determined to destroy the rangers. Once she was purified she had simply accepted her daughter's loss, grieving for her child as she celebrated her new found freedom. She should have known better than to trust Astronema.

"Rhianna is what brought me here today." Goldar started his explanation quickly. "She's alive. I don't know how well she is… I made a mistake and she needs to be rescued."

"What do you mean? What kind of trouble did you get my daughter into?" Mystic Mother was furious and with good reason. She had charged him with taking care of her daughter. She trusted him, and to find out that her daughter was alive and in trouble didn't sit well with her.

Goldar looked at her. This was a long story and he had to simply tell it. "A few years ago we were hiding out in a remote corner of the galaxy. Callisto and Cratus, the head of her army stumbled upon us out there. She knew that Rhianna was your daughter and that the extent of her abilities would be endless. She also knew that they shared a common enemy. The rangers that Callisto had been chasing for years were the same rangers that took her parents away from her. But Rhianna was a child then, not old enough to help so Callisto had her aged. Although Rhianna still has some child like tendencies, it was successful and Callisto brought her to her fort and started training her. Somehow three of the rangers from Earth found out, and with the help of several teams of rangers they destroyed the fort and thought they left us for dead."

As Goldar paused Mystic Mother encouraged him to continue. She assumed this was the trouble he spoke of and was surprised that there was much more to the story.

"We chased the rangers to Earth. They formed a team and the battle began much like it did years ago. Callisto was helping Rhianna's powers grow. As untrustworthy as Callisto could be, I let her continue to help Rhianna. She was learning so much. But I put my foot down when," Goldar paused and sighed. Rita, or Mystic Mother, wasn't going to like this part any more than he did. "Callisto recovered a piece of the Shadow Crystal and was going to use it on Rhianna. I wouldn't let her. That's when she took Rhianna's staff and purified me. I'd been locked up, but the first chance I had I escaped to come get you. Rhianna's still alive but someone needs to help me take on that empire to help her become good and bring her home where she belongs."

Mystic Mother turned away from him as she absorbed all that she was saying. She wished that Goldar hadn't trusted the goddess, but she couldn't blame him as she had believed her more times than she should have during her evil career. She was glad that he came to her first. He was right, they had to save her daughter and bring her home. She doubted he could have gone to the rangers, they just want to stop her they won't listen to him.

Of course she's not completely sure what she can do by herself. She has power, that's not the issue. But if her daughter has Cratus and Callisto and an army backing her, and she's going to need help. She's going to need people to help her fight the minions while helping Rhianna become good. She's going to need the rangers. She turned back around to face her friend. "Who are the rangers?"

"The rangers?" Goldar questioned as Mystic Mother nodded. "The same as the rangers you fought. Tommy leads the team and fights with Jason, Kimberly, Rocky and Carri."

Mystic Mother nodded. That wasn't going to work. They despised her once, she wasn't sure how to get them to trust her and help her. "Is there anything about them that I can use to my advantage?" She was pulling at strings and she knew it, but if even the smallest thing could help her get her daughter back she'd try.

"They are still the same rangers as we knew, only older and better warriors with age. Well," he paused as he thought about it, "Carri and Kimberly are Planetary Rangers. They developed their own powers. Carri is starting to master telekinesis and Kim." He stopped short as he realized the one thing that Rita may be able to find some use out of. "Kim is now Muirantian."

"Really?" Mystic Mother questioned. That was better than she could have hoped for. Kim was Muirantian, meaning her DNA has been changed, that she was now demon spawn. Demon spawn who was working firmly on the side of good. That was one thing they had in common. The other was magic. "Is anyone teaching her about her powers?"

"I believe she has been working with Dulcea." Goldar quickly replied.

Mystic Mother laughed. Dulcea was wise and could probably help Kim with some of her powers and abilities, but Kim now had the potential to become a powerful sorceress and Dulcea would be no use on that front. But sorcery was something she could teach her. Perhaps she could offer her services in exchanged for Kim's help. "Take me to Kim." She said as she looked over at Goldar. "She may be the key to helping us save Rhianna."

* * *

Jason sat in his home office, staring at the open word file on his laptop. He had been staring at the last paragraph he had written for the last ten minutes. It wasn't that he couldn't think of anything to write. In fact, he was overflowing with ideas between his being an active ranger again and the continuing dramas of his friends around him.

His problem was he was too busy letting his mind wander to focus on writing. Maybe after lunch he'd be able to focus more on what he should be working on. Until then he'd be mulling over the huge decision he had made. He was going to tell Emily what he really did for a living.

He had spent a lot of time thinking about it and it was something he wanted to do. Whether or not it was a smart idea he wasn't sure. But then again this was Emily he was talking about. She is the woman who has kept his biggest secret for years. In his eyes the power ranger secret was much bigger than Luke Kirk, and if she could keep the one she could certainly keep the other.

That was why he'd asked her to come over during her lunch break. They were going out that night but this couldn't wait. They were going out on a triple date of sorts, with Carri, Kim, Rocky and Tommy. The girls had reluctantly agreed to sit down with Emily because he wanted them to, and they had even agreed to give her a chance although as Carri had made sure to state there were no promises. Besides the fact that he didn't want to talk about it in a crowded restaurant, Tommy and Rocky didn't know and for the moment he intended on keeping it that way.

It had taken come convincing to get Emily to drop by, but he had assured her that it was important and that it couldn't wait until tonight. This was huge for Jason. Outside of his immediate family and his publisher, he had never told anyone what he did for a living. Sure Carri and Kim knew, but that was only because Carri figured it out and let Kim in on his secret. He hadn't even told Bulk and Skull, his publisher had been the one to tell them who he was and ask that he be given privacy while in the restaurant.

This was the first time that he'd even been inclined to tell anyone. He didn't want to tell the other rangers, he didn't want to get any crap from them. As for his girlfriends, he'd never felt close enough to any of them to want to let them in on that well guarded secret. But Emily, she was different. She knew more about him than any woman ever did, and he felt like he wanted her to know this too. She knew he was a ranger, and there were supposed to be no more secrets between them. If this was going to work, he knew he'd have to tell her before the relationship went too far. Him sneaking around, not telling her what he was doing with his time would give her the worst sense of déjà vu. It strained their relationship the last time, and he didn't want it to get in the way this time.

The doorbell rang and Jason stood. There was no more time left to think about it, it was time to tell her. He headed to the front door and casually opened it, flashing his girlfriend a smile. "Hey. Thanks for coming."

Emily gave him a look as she walked into the open door. "What's so important that you couldn't wait until tonight to tell me?" She questioned, pausing as she glanced over at him.

Jason shut the door and put a hand on her back as he escorted her into the living room, sitting her down on the couch. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Ok." Emily said slowly. She thought things were going good between them, she couldn't imagine what it was that he needed to say. Well she could imagine lots of things, none of them good.

"I haven't been completely honest with you." Jason said as Emily shot him a hurt, confused look. "I'm not really into online investing."

"If you're not an online investor, what do you do for a living?" Emily asked, glancing around at his house. For a place like this he'd have to make good money. And there were lots of ways one could do that, but she couldn't come up with any legitimate ones that he would keep hidden. Although she never thought of Jason as the crime lord type but people were always known to be full of surprise.

"You know the science fiction author, Luke Kirk?" Jason questioned, watching as Emily's eyes lit up in recognition as she gave him a slight nod. "I'm Luke Kirk."

For a moment Emily simply looked at him oddly, then she burst out laughing. She couldn't help herself. She had known Jason Scott for years and there was no way he was a world famous novelist. She heard him huff from across from her and she worked hard to compose herself. "I'm sorry. But Luke Kirk? Out of all the things you once said you'd consider doing with your life, novelist was on the opposite end of the spectrum."

"Follow me." Jason said gruffly, watching as Emily got up and walked behind him. Of all the reactions he was expecting, laughter and disbelief was not one of them. He did realize that novelist wasn't the natural course for him. But it gave him a ranger connection and he actually enjoyed turning their adventures into stories.

He led her into his office, where he gestured for her to sit while he walked over to his bookshelf. "Most of the stuff in the books is based off of my tenure as a ranger." He said as he searched through the shelves. "That's one of the reasons why they're so successful, because they have an element of realism that no one has ever been able to incorporate before." As he spoke, he pulled one of the later manuscripts of his last book off the shelf, complete with the scribbling in the margins and he handed it to Emily.

As she started to thumb through it he went back and grabbed a printed copy of the book and turned to give that to her as well. "Another is that this new book added a romantic element that was realistic and melded in well with the action and brought a lot of readers."

"I don't get it." Emily said as she glanced at the book in her hands.

"Look really closely at the cover." Jason said as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. If she wouldn't put the pieces together and believe him now, he didn't know what he was going to do.

Emily took a moment to stare at the cover. There was something about the hero couple that was vaguely familiar. As she looked a little closer she realized what it was. "That's supposed to be Kim and Tommy!" she exclaimed as she looked up at them. "Do they know you're using them?"

"Kim knows. Carri too. They sort of figured it out on their own. No one else on the team knows." Jason said, pausing for a moment. "You're the first person I've told."

"Oh." Emily said as the realization hit her that this was huge. She thumbed through the manuscript thinking about how she couldn't believe she was dating Luke Kirk. She had heard of his books, but when the new series came out a while ago she was told she had to read it and she absolutely fell in love with it. He was right. There was romance and action and it all felt quite realistic. "So not only am I dating a power ranger, but I'm dating a bestselling author."

"Now you know both of my biggest secrets." Jason said as he looked down at her.

"Thank you. For telling me." Emily said as she smiled over at him. Secrets had hurt their last relationship. Luke Kirk was a big secret and she was glad he trusted her with it already. She stood and walked over to him, putting her arms around him. "Since this is my lunch break, why don't we go out for sandwiches. Your treat."

Jason grinned as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. "I think I can handle that." He turned her around and grabbed her hand, leading her out of the office. That secret was off of his chest and later he could get back to working on his newest book.

* * *

The two Hillard siblings found themselves standing in front of Bulkmeier's waiting for their lunch date. They had actually gotten quite a bit of work done that morning, despite Carri's sibling squabbles with her brother. Now, with a little push from their mother, they were meeting with their cousin for lunch.

For the most part Carri wasn't keen on the idea. But she had been out voted by her mother and her brother. She had spoken to Kat since the last time. They talked on the phone the weekend after she got back from New York, long enough for both of them to take a breather. Although Carri didn't offer Kat the sincere apology she was looking for, both girls decided to call a truce on the issue.

This would be the first time they had seen each other since their last lunch at Bulkmeier's. And although Carri wasn't sure she was looking forward to it, Kat was still her cousin and still going to be a bridesmaid and even though they weren't going to be bestest friends, she still needed to be on solid ground with her. They glanced through the parking lot as Kat's Corolla pulled in. They watched as she worked on getting the stroller out of her trunk. After a second of her struggling, Josh jogged out to help her.

Carri watched her brother get the stroller out of the trunk as Kat pulled the baby out of the car seat. She took a deep breath and put a smile on her face as her brother and cousin approached. "Hey Kat, how are you?"

"I'm doing good." Kat replied as she smiled at her cousin. Here they were, trying again to have a relationship. Chris didn't approve. He said that Carri was a cold-hearted bitch among other things and that they'd never be able to have a real relationship. But Kat maintained that they were close once, and that they were still family and she knew they could work through their differences and be friends.

Of course that wasn't as easy as it sounded. Carri would always be Carri and Kat had trouble not piling something new on top of all her grievances of the past ten years. Encounters between them never seemed to come out quite the way she wanted them to. She wasn't sure what to expect with this lunch, but as long as it ended pleasantly she would be happy.

"They've got a table waiting for us." Carri said as she gestured to the front of the building.

"Great." Kat replied. She stood back as Josh went and held the door open, with Carri slipping in first and Kat pushing the stroller in behind her. They were immediately directed toward a table, and while her two cousins sat Kat got the baby situated before sitting herself.

They quickly put in their drink orders and the waitress left, leaving the three of them behind to talk. "I'm glad we could all have lunch together."

"Yeah it's been a while." Josh agreed. As he started to think about it he realized it really had been a long time. He had hardly seen Kat over the last ten years, let alone sat down with her and his I've got to run off and save the world sister.

"It's because you live in New York you know." Carri quickly pushed the blame on her brother as she gave him a sly grin.

Kat held back the comment that was on the tip of her tongue but Josh didn't. "Don't try to pin anything on me. New York is a lot closer than another galaxy."

Kat let out a little laugh, glad that Josh could say what she was thinking and get away with it. Carri looked from her brother to her cousin. It was in good fun, or at least she hoped it was. Josh never really had an issue with her being away and since Kat didn't have anything to add Carri let it slide. She gave her brother a lopsided grin as she spoke. "Yes and now that I'm here you're probably wondering when I'll be leaving again."

"Aw come on." Josh said as he reached over at put his arm around Carri. "You're my favorite pain in the ass sister, what would I do without you?"

Carri snorted. "I'm your only pain in the ass sister. And without me around, your life would suck."

"Actually you make no difference in me living my life. With our without you I have money, I have partying to accomplish, and I have a different date for every night of the week." Although he loved his sister, there was no need letting her feel too full of herself.

Carri huffed and pushed her brother off of her before crossing her arms and changing the subject. "So Kat, are you having fun now that you've started working again?"

Kat beamed at the opportunity to talk about her job. "It's amazing. I missed the kids so much. We've got a couple of new girls in the beginner's class who are so adorable. I can't wait until Denise is old enough to dance." She paused as she looked over and beamed at her daughter. "We're starting work on the next recital so I came in at the perfect time."

"That's great. I'm glad you're getting back in the swing of things." Carri said as she flashed her cousin a smile.

"What about the two of you? Have you been working hard on Carri's movie?" She wasn't sure of all the details, her uncle had just said that Josh was flying in to help Carri with the movie her company was working on.

"With my help she's about to make the rest of Hollywood jealous." Josh said as he leaned back in his chair. Carri was sitting on a gold mine of films with the Luke Kirk rights that other companies would die for. She had to have sold her soul to get them. He had yet to decide if she didn't understand the significance of what she had or if she was simply downplaying it. Although his sister wasn't stupid and he suspected it was the latter.

"We'll see." Carri said as she looked at her brother and made a face. "I'm not going to say anything until the movie's in theaters and the reviews and box office receipts start rolling in."

"Even if you don't rock Hollywood, it's still great that you've got the opportunity." Kat said as she looked over at her cousin who nodded in response. She was surprised that her cousin had landed a movie. Her little company was growing fast. As silence came over the table, Kat decided to switch topics again. "What about everything else? How's Rocky? And the wedding planning?"

Carri suppressed a groan and glanced over toward her brother, who was grinning wickedly. "I'm glad I don't have to worry about all this wedding stuff." Josh commented. He had pointedly avoided any conversation his mother wanted to get into that started with wedding. Of course, so had Carri.

"What are you talking about groomsman?" Carri said, giving Josh her own wicked grin. She really hadn't discussed it officially with him before but now was as good a time as ever.

"Me? Really?" Josh asked. He was somewhat surprised although he supposed he shouldn't be.

"You're my brother. It was implied." Carri said as she gave her brother a look that suggested he was an idiot for not knowing that. "Moron." She added for good measure.

Josh had a comeback ready but Kat jumped in and steered the conversation back to the wedding itself. "I have some ideas for your wedding." She said. As mad as she was at Carri, after they'd talked about their last lunch and apologized, or at least words were said that somewhat resembled an apology, she tried to push past it and go back to being excited about being a bridesmaid. She had pulled out her old wedding books she had saved and had done some research online. She had some great ideas for Carri. "Maybe we can talk about them over lunch."

Carri gave her somewhat of a smile as the waitress finally returned with their drinks. "That would be great." Her brother grinned at the tone in her voice that Kat was oblivious to as she placed her order. Carri sighed as Kat finished ordering and Josh started to speak. She really did not want to talk about weddings. But at least they seemed to be on ok terms and she supposed talking about weddings was better than arguing. Not much, but still better.

* * *

Rhianna found herself walking outside with Skull, her boyfriend. Was it correct to call him her boyfriend yet? She wasn't sure. They had been on a few dates, but she didn't quite know what constituted someone being your boyfriend.

Although she wouldn't mind if he was. She was having a great time with him. It started with the Halloween party. She had gone with vampire seductress. And he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. They talked and partied the night away, and before she knew it the wee hours of the morning were creeping in and Skull was seeing her off.

Since then they had been on several more dates. He was intriguing. He wasn't like all the other human males she had encountered and she liked that. And it was quite obvious that he felt the same about her. She never thought she could feel this way about a male before yet here she was. It had been amazing. Their fourth date ended in a kiss. Her first kiss. Skull didn't seem to notice. She had seen enough kisses to know what to do. She drew him in with her lips and she longed to do it over and over again. But Skull had ended it with one. She was hoping today's date would end with more.

She just hoped that he wouldn't suggest yet again that they go back to her place. He seemed to be quite interested in where she lived. So far she had yet to come up with a solution to that problem. She couldn't take him to her real home. On one hand he might find it intriguing, on the other it was the Lunar Palace and he would most likely freak out and never want to see her again.

For now she wasn't letting him anywhere near there. She wasn't going there as much either, she was spending most of her time snooping around on Earth. The palace was too depressing, with everyone still gone and all. The thought had crossed her mind that she should go back to thinking about how to get rid of the rangers. But she could never pull her thoughts together; they kept drifting back to Skull. So she was content with continuing to ignore the rangers.

"Gina baby, whatcha thinking about so hard over there?" Skull asked as he looked over at her. It had been a weird last two weeks for him. He hadn't had a serious girlfriend in a long time. But he really liked Gina. Although it was too early to say for sure, he thought they fit well together.

"Nothing." Rhianna replied quickly, looking up at him and giving him a smile. She felt it inappropriate to tell him she was thinking about him. After all, he was right there.

Skull let out a little laugh. "I know nothing." He pointed out. He had gone through much of life thinking about nothing. "And that ain't it."

"Just excited to be going to the movies, that's all." Rhianna replied. He surprised her by pursuing that line of questioning. Hopefully this answer would suffice.

"Ah, thinking about the blood and guts are we?" Skull questioned. He was taking her to a slasher flick. He had been dying to see it. He wasn't sure if she was that interested. She didn't seem to know anything about the movie but when he described it to her she seemed like she would like it.

"Yes." Rhianna lied.

Skull made a face. "You're not going to get queasy on me when the death and destruction starts?" Gina didn't strike him like that kind of girl and he would be rather disappointed if she was.

Rhianna blinked as she looked up at him, her smile spreading like that of the Cheshire cat before letting out a laugh. "I'm looking forward to the death and destruction." When Skull invited her to see what he called a slasher flick, she had no idea what that was. But when he described them to her, well the thought that there was a whole genre of movies out there where someone planned to run around and do gruesome things to people thrilled her to no end.

"You're darker than I give you credit for." Skull replied with a laugh. Maybe she was as genuinely interested in the film as he was hoping she would be.

"Is that bad?" Rhianna asked quickly, shifting the mood. If he couldn't handle this little side of her there was no way he'd accept her for who she really was. And if there was no way he'd accept her, she would have at least liked to go on pretending for a while and not ruin it now.

Skull was surprised by her sudden shift in mood. He thought it was kind of cute that she was that worried that he would find her too… well dark or goth or evil or whatever she thought he thought she was and that he wasn't going to be interested in her. "I think it's just fine."

Rhianna let out a sigh of relief as Skull leaned into her and gave her another kiss. Her body tensed up for a moment, not expecting the gesture. Once she realized what it was she felt the rush go through her and she pushed hard back against his lips. When they finally separated she looked up at him, the corners of her mouth tweaking into a slight smile.

Upon seeing the look on her face, Skull grinned before grabbing her hand and spun her in the direction of the theater. "Come on." He said as he gestured to the box office. "Let's get our tickets so we can check out the movie."

"Ok." That wasn't exactly what Rhianna wanted to do next. Perhaps there would be time for what she wanted to do later. Skull walked up to the lady at the window and bought two tickets. Rhianna smiled at herself. Yes, there would be time for kissing later. But now it was time for a slasher flick.

* * *

Tommy leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms as he glanced over at his former teammate. He waited for a moment before Billy turned away from the console and looked at him. "It's quiet." Billy informed him.

"Damn." Tommy replied. Quiet wasn't good. Quiet couldn't be good. Quiet meant that there hadn't been the slightest bit of activity from the moon in weeks, nor could they find anything out from anyone they'd asked to help.

It couldn't simply be quiet. Rhianna's powers would have most certainly had to restore themselves by now. Billy had assured him of that every time they met in the Command Chamber since the last battle. She had to be plotting something. Something bigger than her last attack, and to be quite honest that frightened him. They barely stopped her the last time and they'd had to pull out everything that was at their disposal.

Even Billy was at a loss. He had put everything into that one weapon. And although it would still be able to temporarily strip her powers, Rhianna knew of it now and it wouldn't be as easy to use it a second time. Billy had worked hard to pull at anything that might stop her. There were lots of suggestions, but so far they had yet to come up with something that was feasible. Whether or not they were talking about it, he knew the entire team had spent the last few weeks thinking about it. Nobody had any answers, at least none that they had voiced. As much as he hated to think about Kim jumping around through time and space and who knows what else, he hoped that she had been and not telling him so that she could find some sort of solution.

"All of our allies have promised to send word the moment they hear anything." Billy spoke. He knew it was difficult. He was frustrated as well. He always had the solution, or could work to find the solution. But he was at a loss as to what the next best course of action was. And he didn't know how to proceed from here.

Tommy nodded. He hated that there wasn't much more he could do. Zordon had always taught him to be patient and wait for the enemy to make their move. But that was easier said than done. Especially when he knew what the enemy was capable of.

Billy could sense Tommy's disappointment so he continued. "And I have included our sensors to keep an eye on the moon now. I'll be paged at the first sign of any activity." It was something he hadn't wanted to do. Their sensors were set up to keep watch on Earth. They did brief scans out in space for oncoming threats, but they weren't focused on one spot. Before he'd set it up to run individual sweeps of the moon every few hours and compile the data. But even that was a lot as it pulled away from the other things the sensors were doing. Now he had reconfigured everything so that they were watching the Lunar Palace full time. He wasn't sure if they were going to learn anything from doing this, but Tommy would be happy knowing that he would get the information the moment something happened.

In the meantime though they would have to settle for assuming that she was planning something big, something that they were going to need to work hard to overcome. He would continue to go through the theories and equations to see if there was anything he could come up with that would sway the outcome to their side.

"And you'll let me know the moment you hear anything?" Tommy questioned, wanting to make sure they were on the same page. This was important, he'd drop everything and meet him here if he could come up with some information.

"Of course." Billy replied. Besides trying to stop Rhianna, the main point of doing this was to keep the ranger's leader as informed as possible. He didn't blame him, Tommy was worried as he should be. Of course he knew Tommy, knew that he would stand strong despite any worries and chose the correct course of action to keep the people on this planet protected. He hoped that the choice would be simple, but it seemed like they never were. He couldn't help but wonder if Tommy missed Zordon's guidance in times like these.

Tommy let out a small sigh as he shifted his weight in the chair. He knew that this was as good as they were going to be able to get it but that didn't make him any happier. The more time that passed the more he knew that they needed to figure out something. "Let's brainstorm and go back to some of the ideas we've come up with." Tommy said, referencing their past meetings in the Command Chamber. "Maybe with a fresh look we can pull something out of nothing."

Billy gave a slight nod. He wasn't positive what they would be able to accomplish but it was definitely worth a shot. "We'll see what we can do." He turned toward the control panels as Tommy came and stood next to him, both men searching through and pulling up any of the ideas they had saved that might be of some use.

* * *

Kim opened the door up to her apartment after a long day of work. She was tired and wanted more than anything to collapse in the couch and not move until it was time to go to dinner. She walked in and tossed her keys on the counter before turning toward the living room, where someone was already waiting for her on the couch.

"Who are you?" she asked the woman in white. She was vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "And what are you doing in my home?"

"I do realize it has been a long time but I find it hard to believe that you would have forgotten about me." Mystic Mother said as she looked Kim over. Whether or not waiting for her in her home was a good idea she wasn't sure. But she doubted Kim would follow her into the Mystic Realm and she couldn't go to her office. So she made sure Tommy was elsewhere and she headed to their apartment.

Kim looked at the figure and thought for a moment as the realization of who it was hit her. "Rita!" she exclaimed, not sure of what to think. She knew Rita had been purified and was now good, but it was hard to get past the fact that Rita Repulsa, who had tried to kill her more times than she could remember, was now sitting in her living room.

"I haven't been Rita in a long time." She said evenly. "It's Mystic Mother now."

"So Mystic Mother," Kim said the name slowly, somewhat pleased that she didn't go by the name she'd used when she was evil, "you've been laying low for the last eight years and now all the sudden you've come to see me?"

"I've been living in the Mystic Realm. I haven't had any interest in the former rangers. Neither has Zedd, Rito, Finster who have been happily living in Briarwood and nor will Goldar either now I suppose." Mystic Mother explained.

"Goldar?" Kim questioned as Mystic Mother nodded. If he was somehow purified and living with the others it would explain why they hadn't seen him in a few weeks. She had just assumed that he was behind the scenes training Rhianna or running Callisto's errands. But if he was out of the picture completely that may change things. She shook her head, putting that thought aside for the moment. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"I believe we both have a common interest." Mystic Mother said as Kim looked at her. "We both want to keep my daughter from conquering Earth and killing you and your friends."

"Rhianna." Kim stated, crossing her arms over her chest and continued. "Why come to me now? Rhianna's been attacking the Earth for months with Callisto's help."

"I thought that both my daughter and Goldar were long dead. It wasn't until Goldar escaped his imprisonment and came to me that I learned she was alive and being used by Callisto." Mystic Mother filled her in. Had she known her daughter was alive sooner, she would have found her after she had been purified and raised her in the Mystic Realm with her.

"Callisto's not the problem anymore. We trapped her in a containment orb." Kim said, not missing the relief that washed across Mystic Mother's face. "It's Rhianna who's the problem. She's melded with a piece of the Shadow Crystal and somehow got a secondary power source to add to that."

"The gem." Mystic Mother replied. She knew all about the legends from when she was evil. If her daughter really did have these powers, she was lucky to be alive. "With a little bit of magic we may be able to separate her powers from her."

"How do you propose we do that?" Kim questioned, eyebrow raised as she looked over at Mystic Mother. She wasn't sure what she was getting to. Separating her powers would be a good thing, but they had managed to do it if only for a few seconds and she still wanted to take over the world.

"With your help I can separate her powers, all I ask is that you don't hurt her. My daughter is not evil, she was just raised that way. I know I can get her to step away from her evil ways. She would want nothing more to know that her parents are alive and that she can go home with them." Mystic Mother explained. She was aware that the supposed death of her parents was what was driving her current tirade. It was obvious that Kim was skeptical so she continued. "In return for your help I will teach you magic."

"Magic?" Kim questioned. Dulcea had dabbled with her in magic through harnessing her spirit totem, but as far as she knew there wasn't anything more that she had the ability to do. "What makes you think I want to learn magic?"

"You are Muirantian correct?" Mystic Mother asked, watching as Kim nodded her head yes. "I am sure you have learned a lot about your new abilities that come with being Muirantian, but one thing you haven't tapped into is your ability as a sorceress."

"Sorceress?" Kim repeated. She didn't realize that being a sorceress came with being Muirantian.

"I suppose Dulcea didn't tell you about that. It doesn't surprise me, she doesn't know the extent of what you can do as demon spawn nor would she have the slightest idea how to teach you to harness all of your magical powers and still use them for good." Mystic Mother said with a smile. Dulcea may know a bit about magic, but the kind of sorcery Kim was capable of was defiantly out of her league. "I, on the other hand, happen to be an expert in magic, and I am the most qualified sorceress to teach you."

Kim thought long and hard about what Mystic Mother was saying. She was right, Dulcea hadn't indicated that she had the power to become a sorceress. But if her powers gave her the ability to train as a sorceress, she would love the opportunity. "So you want me to keep Rhianna safe and help you strip her of her powers and bring her back to you, and in return you'll teach me everything I need to know about magic."

"That's the deal, take it or leave it." Mystic Mother confirmed. She was hoping Kim was inclined to take it. It appeared as though she was quite interested in it.

How this was going to turn out in the long run, Kim wasn't sure. But they needed all the pairs of hands they could get with Rhianna. She wasn't completely sure she could trust the woman who was once Rita, but she figured she would have had to have made some noise before now if she wasn't really good and still wanted to kill them. Besides, if all went according to plan this would prove to be an amazing opportunity for her. "Deal."

"Good. You will find me in the Mystic Realm when you are ready to begin your training." And with that, Mystic Mother disappeared.

Kim sighed and sunk down into the couch. At least she had a new aspect of her abilities to work on. Between learning sorcery, learning about coins, and working on mastering what she already knew being a Muirantian was becoming a fulltime job. As she pondered the events of the last few minutes, a teleportation streak beamed into her living room, fading away to reveal Tommy.

The white ranger smiled at his girlfriend. He was glad to see she was there. It had been a long afternoon and he and Billy had nothing to show for it. They had been grasping at ideas and had struck out with every single one of them. He sunk down onto the couch next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "Hey beautiful." He said giving her a kiss. She greeted him and he smiled at her. "How was your day?"

Kim thought about the question. She knew she should tell him about the events of the past few minutes. But she wasn't ready to, not yet. It didn't matter when she told him, he was going to flip out over her working with Rita, even if she was supposed to be purified. As they had dinner tonight to go to, she didn't want to have that argument now. And it was going to be an argument. "Good. Just got home from work. Yours?"

"Billy and I have been searching for clues about Rhianna and working on ways to stop her. I haven't come up with anything yet." Tommy replied with a sigh.

"Too bad." Kim said. This would be a good time to mention that she may have something, but she continued to decline to do so. Instead she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. "It seems like we've both had a long day. Maybe we should take a shower before dinner."

With a goofy grin Tommy slid his other arm underneath her legs. "That sounds like a plan." He said, standing and scooping her up with him. Kim squealed and put her arms around his neck, thinking about how nice it was going to be to forget about things if only for a few minutes as he whisked her away to the bathroom.

* * *

In the middle of Bulkmeier's, Jason and Emily found themselves seated at a table for six. They were patiently waiting for the others to get there. Although Emily wasn't sure she could wait any longer.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she questioned. Jason had said that the others were willing to be nice to her. But she kept thinking about Carri and Kim at the bar and she wasn't convinced that they were ready to attempt to be friends again.

Jason grabbed her hand, pulling it up to his lips to give it a kiss. "It will be fine, I promise." He thought it was kind of cute that she was so nervous. He couldn't blame her, Carri and Kim had a lot of not so nice things to say about her since college.

"Yes but." Emily stopped short as she heard a familiar voice speaking through the crowd.

"Hey guys." Carri said as she approached the table, Rocky in tow. She wasn't quite sure how this was going to go. She and Kim were only here as a favor to Jason. He was trying again with Emily. And it was important to him that they try too. She and Emily had been good friends once, perhaps they could try again. But if Emily left Jason a blubbering mess again, she was going to have to kill her.

"Hey." Jason replied, gesturing to the empty chairs. "Have a seat."

Carri and Rocky sat as Emily glanced at both of them. "How have you guys been?" she asked politely, trying to start up a conversation.

"We've been great." Rocky said with a smile. He wasn't sure how this was going to go. He remembered Jason being crushed the last time. And he remembered Carri's constant bitching about going over to Emily's and giving her a piece of her mind. Had she ever run into Emily in Angel Grove, she probably would have gone off on her.

"Working all the time." Carri chimed in. She couldn't help but wonder how much about them had Jason already caught her up on.

"You don't work, you just play." Kim teased as she and Tommy came up from behind her. She had been walking on air since their shower. She was glad they made time for it.

"I work my ass off thank you very much." Carri replied with a scowl. Kim laughed as Tommy pulled a chair out for her. "I spent all day working with Josh slaving over my new project." She said as she glanced in Jason's direction. She didn't want to talk about the movie specifically, but Jason got what she was talking about.

"Conference call?" Kim questioned. She'd admit to being curious about Josh. After all, he was an ex and her best friend's brother. But curious was it. She had no intentions of letting go of Tommy.

"Nah." Carri said casually. "He flew in yesterday, he's helping me in the office." Rocky thought she should tell Kim. So now she's told her.

"How long is he staying for?" Tommy asked. The question was more like when is he leaving, followed by does he know to stay the hell away from my girlfriend. But he wasn't going to ask those. Besides, he and Kim were in love and he didn't think she'd have any inclination to go back to Josh. That didn't mean he wouldn't want to break Josh's arm for just thinking about it.

"He should be back in New York by this weekend. He's just here to help me." Carri said, flashing Tommy what she hoped was a "my brother's not going to touch your girlfriend so you don't have to kill him" smile.

"That's great you get to see your brother, even if it is for work." Emily interjected quickly, trying make sure the situation didn't go farther than that. Jason had told her that Josh and Kim dated briefly before she got back with Tommy. If there was one thing that she remembered about Tommy, it was his jealousy.

"It is." Carri replied, grateful that Tommy hadn't had the opportunity to ask any more questions. Not that he wasn't thinking them though. "How have you been?" she asked, changing topics completely.

"Good. Busy. Working a lot like everyone else." Emily replied. Busy wasn't a lie. Between work and Jason and her friends she hardly had time for herself anymore.

"Busy is sort of the theme when you get older." Kim said with a smile. She barely had enough time to do everything that she needed to do. And that was with bending time to work on her powers. Some days she missed her youth. When the main thing she was worried about was whether the sale at Macy's ran through Saturday or Sunday and if she had time for both the sale and the newest Brad Pitt movie. She glanced down at Carri briefly. They still shopped together, but it was nothing like the marathons that went on in college.

Carri snorted and the others looked over at her. "What? I totally agree. Unless you're Jason."

"Wait a minute." Jason spoke quickly in his defense as Tommy and Rocky snickered. "I work all day. Just because I don't ever show up in an office doesn't mean I'm not busy. Tommy doesn't go into an office either so I suppose he has just as much free time as I do."

"I work hard every day." Tommy quickly corrected him. He was glad that Carri pointed out the thought that had crossed his mind several times. "When I'm not working on projects for other corporations I'm sending Anton lecture notes." Anton had been kind enough to pick up the start of his classes this year. Tommy kept promising that he'd be back. Eventually. Until then he was trying to make sure Anton had everything he needed so he wouldn't have much work to do.

Kim tried not to sigh aloud as for the first time in a while the realization hit her that Tommy still had a fulltime job in Reefside. One that Anton Mercer was simply filling in for him on. When this conflict was all said and done, Tommy would still want to go home and teach. Kim couldn't walk away from Ashley's firm. They had invested in each other, and it was a working relationship that was thriving. Her working in Angel Grove and him working in Reefside left her with a long distance relationship that she simply did not want to think about. For now she'd sit back and silently wish that this thing would drag on a bit longer.

"Everyone has their own projects." Emily spoke up in Jason's defense. Kim and Carri grinned as Rocky and Tommy shook their heads. It was weird knowing one of Jason's secrets that everyone else didn't know already. Out of the corner of her eye she saw their waiter approaching the table. She found herself leaning back in her seat quite comfortable. So far nobody had ripped her head off, and they were having fun conversation. She'd have to give Jason credit. Maybe this was a good idea after all.

* * *

Rhianna lay across her bed, feeling as though she was on some sort of high. Her day had been absolutely amazing. First there was the slasher flick. She couldn't get enough of it. All the blood and guts and people literally losing their heads made her giddy. And the killer wasn't killed at the end and Skull said that meant sequel.

If she wasn't on high enough at that point, what happened after the movie took her to the next level. They went back to Skull's place and kissed for hours with him putting his hands in places nobody had ever touched before. She couldn't believe it. It was like some sort of drug she couldn't get enough of. She would never have left except Skull had to go to work.

Now she found herself with the remainder of the night to think about him. And she had a lot to think about. Just the memory of the afternoon excited her in ways she would have never thought possible.

As she lay in her bed, she found herself more than a little surprised when the door to her room opened and Cratus walked in. He glanced at her curiously. He had never seen Rhianna looking so… disgustingly happy. He couldn't imagine what brought it on. There was nothing to be happy over. From what he could gather, Kemora swooped in and trapped Callisto in an orb. And orb that was apparently well hidden. This was all the rangers fault. They had to be destroyed.

"Come on, we've got a lot of work to do." He spoke quickly, hoping that his appearance would snap Rhianna out of this mood and back into reality.

"Work?" Rhianna questioned. Thoughts of her mission came flooding in and she found herself somewhat conflicted. She was actually enjoying her time on Earth.

"We have rangers to destroy and a world to get eating out of your hands." Cratus reminded her. She was still young, he hoped she hadn't gone soft while he was away.

"I don't know." Rhianna spoke slowly. She just wanted to make out some more. It was hard to pull herself back where Cratus wanted her to be.

"You don't know?" Cratus questioned with a growl. It was time to remind her why she was doing this in the first place. "These are the people who have taken everything away from you bit by bit. They killed your parents. Your mother and father, who you never got to know. We must kill them and finish the task that they set out to do so many years ago.

A tear slid down Rhianna's cheek. He was right. She thought she could love Skull. But she started out doing this for her parents, and she had to finish it for them. Maybe once it was said and done Skull could stand by her side as she ruled Earth. She took a deep breath as she slowly pulled her mission into focus. This was for mom and dad. "What about the ranger's weapon?"

Cratus was satisfied that she was back on board again. Whatever happened to her was forgotten, or at least pushed aside. "You know they have the weapon now. We can avoid it."

Rhianna gave a slight nod as she pulled herself off of her bed. "So what are we going to do?"

"We need to come up with a plan." Cratus said. He wasn't going to make damn sure they didn't lose this time. It may take some work, but this was going to be it, this was going to be the final battle, the battle they won. He was furious about Callisto and the rangers were going to pay for what they did with their lives. He turned toward the door and gestured for Rhianna to follow. "It's time to get started."


	27. Ultimate Vengeance

**Disclaimer:** The rangers are Disney's, Callisto is Universal's. Any references to things originating in K's world (K, the Nova's, etc.) belong to KSuzie. Everyone else (Carri, Rhianna, etc.) is mine.

**Author's Notes:** This is the last official chapter of Legacy. There will be a short epilogue that will be posted after I complete the next "Return to Action" chapter. The epilogue will touch on where the characters go following the conclusion of this chapter.  
As I'm sure you all have noticed, there is a lot more story to discuss than what will be concluded here (or than what will be touched on in the epilogue). I plan on writing another series, one that should be the final in my trilogy that started with "Ranger Scrolls". That series will focus on the Planetary Powers, and will pick up on the eve of Kim's twenty ninth birthday. It should debut sometime later this year.  
Thank you to everyone who has followed me throughout this story. It is an amazing feeling to know that people actually enjoy what you write.  
A special thank you goes to my good friend KSuzie. Some of the characters that touched my rangers lives were originally created in her fanfic world. Plus she has been a huge help when I needed someone to brainstorm ideas for Legacy with. She gave me some ideas for some of the most fun parts of Legacy :)

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Ultimate Vengeance"

It was the day before Thanksgiving, and Kim and Carri found themselves standing in the middle of an upscale store in Angel Grove mall looking at Thanksgiving decorations. It was mostly a clothes excursion but Carri was determined to pick out decorations. Carri picked up a few fancy themed candle holders and looked them over as Kim continued browsing the table.

"I could put these on the table tomorrow." Carri said as she carefully studied them. It was the first time she was hosting a Thanksgiving dinner and she wanted everything to be perfect. The food part of the day she wasn't worried about. Although the others said they could help cook, she didn't want to entertain the idea and she hired a highly recommended catering company.

It was going to be weird, having Thanksgiving dinner. It would be the first one that either she or Kim had celebrated in years. The last few had been spent with a dry turkey sandwich from the synthetron and stuffing that actually made the sandwich look good.

Besides the fact that they weren't used to having Thanksgiving dinner, neither were used to not celebrating with their families. Carri simply didn't want to go to New York and deal with her mother for the holiday. She loved her mother but they never could see eye to eye. She thought she and Rocky would have a much nicer holiday if it didn't involve the tension that particular dinner would bring. Dinner with Rocky's family was out of the question. Rocky had finally fessed up to the dinner with his family that he'd had while she was gone. She'd have to give him credit, he had been right to not to want to tell her about it. Just the thought made her angry. And should they get put in the same room, it would take a miracle to keep Carri from speaking her mind.

Kim had other reasons for not liking her family based options for Thanksgiving dinner. She didn't want to fly to Paris to be with her mother and stepfather. And her father was away on business. At least that's what he'd said, but she had a feeling that he had snuck his new girlfriend off somewhere. Tommy's family was throwing a huge Thanksgiving dinner with several members of his extended family. But that was in northern California. With all the uncertainty going on Tommy was uneasy straying far from Angel Grove. He didn't want to rely on teleporters or powers to get him back to Angel Grove in an emergency.

"These placemats are really nice." Kim commented, thumbing through them as Carri put the candles in the basket. "And there's six here."

Carri walked over and looked at them, thinking about how they needed six. "I hope it goes ok with Emily there." She said casually. Jason's parents were visiting his sister in Pittsburg and he was coming to dinner as well. And of course he had asked to bring a date. Billy and Trini were the only ones not coming as they had dinner plans with his family.

"It should. Our last dinner went well." Kim replied, reminding her of the dinner they'd all had at Bulkmeier's recently. They weren't all best of friends after they left but seeing how happy Emily and Jason were together, she couldn't hate Emily anymore. She just hoped that Emily didn't betray him again.

"I suppose you're right." Carri said, picking up a placemat and flipping it over. Yeah they were nice. But not twenty dollars per placemat nice. It was no problem affording them, and she expected to pay a little more coming into that store, but that didn't mean she wanted to throw her money away. "I wonder if they're gold trimmed." She muttered with a sigh as Kim glanced over at her. Carri shrugged and went back to their conversation.

"If she really likes Jason there's nothing for me to be concerned about. Besides it thrills Jason to death to have us all hang out with her." Carri continued. Jason really wanted them all to be friends again but that wouldn't be instant. She and Kat had been trying for months and so far they've gotten through two civilized lunches without ripping each other's throats out.

"So see, you answered your own question." Kim replied with a grin, flipping over another placemat and looking at the price before showing it to Carri. "These are nice."

Carri glanced at the price first. Five dollars apiece. She could handle that. Flipping them back over she examined them carefully. "So," Carri switched topics, pausing momentarily as she rubbed her fingers over the design, "how are things going with Rita?"

"You mean Mystic Mother." Kim corrected dryly. The woman had a fit if she slipped and called her Rita. She didn't want any ties to her evil past, something that she was working hard to overcome. It was actually quite pleasant for Kim to see. Purified or not she still had lingering doubts about Rita and the fact that the woman didn't want to be associated with being evil made her feel better.

"Same difference." Carri said with a shrug as she tossed six placemats into her basket. Although it wasn't, after all she never referred to Karone as Astronema, but still it was hard to think of Rita by any other name.

"They're ok. Slow though" Kim answered her original question. She was learning magic. It was a slow process, but she was still learning. She wasn't sure what was going to happen when they went up against Rhianna. Mystic Mother was going to have to tweak her plans. Kim was really good at manipulating shadows, the first thing a good sorceress learned, but she had just dabbled into things more difficult than that. She doubted that shadows would help with Rhianna. "I'm meeting her after we're done shopping. Hopefully we can work on something a little more interesting."

"Have you told Tommy yet?" Carri asked. She was pretty sure she knew the answer but she wanted to bring it up. She knew why she hadn't told Tommy. It was the same reason she hadn't told Jason. She had spilled to Carri, trusting her to keep it a secret. And although the idea gave her the creeps, she had to admit that Rita teaching Kim in exchange for her help was actually a good idea.

"No. I will. Soon." Kim said with a sigh. He was not going to be pleased. He knew Rita had been purified but that didn't mean he would want Kim learning from her. This was the woman who made him an evil ranger; got him to do a lot of things he wasn't proud of. Not to mention all the things she did to the rest of their friends. It wouldn't be easy for Tommy to accept Rita as Mystic Mother as a force for good if he'd accept it at all. She wouldn't blame him for being angry, but she wasn't going to change her mind.

"You'd better. He's going to be pretty surprised when Rhianna finally shows her face again and Rita's not far behind. He may turn his weapons on her." Carri pointed out.

"I know." Kim said with a sigh, watching as Carri tossed a few more items into her basket. "It doesn't make it any easier though. This is Tommy we're talking about. He's going to flip. It's why I've been putting it off. But you're right, I really have to tell him."

Carri avoided gloating that she was right. It wasn't often that others admitted it to her and usually she liked to point it out. But Kim was upset and conflicted over the issue and it didn't seem appropriate. She grabbed the last item she had been eying and stuck it in her basket before turning toward her best friend. "Let's get checked out and get back to the clothes. That should make you feel better."

Kim smirked as Carri pushed her basket toward the front of the store. When they were younger clothes shopping could fix almost anything. Nowadays she might be able to use that as a temporary Band-Aid, but she figured a Band-Aid was better than nothing.

* * *

It was a cold afternoon in New York as Adam finished up his conversation and hung up the phone. It was nice to get to talk to Rocky some. He just wished he got to be there more. He had been in New York for a long time but he still somewhat missed Angel Grove, and he really missed his friends. Most of the time he didn't think about it but the feelings were brought to the surface every time Rocky called.

This time it had hit him harder than usual. Rocky had told him all about the big Thanksgiving dinner they were planning on having tomorrow. This was the first time all the rangers had gotten together for Thanksgiving. They usually spent the holiday with their families, which he hadn't done in years as his parents still lived in Angel Grove. But after hearing the reasons why they didn't want to see their families, it made sense and Adam was glad they were all getting together.

But still, here he was in New York, where he would celebrate the holiday with Tanya like he did every year. Not that he didn't love his wife dearly, but sometimes he wanted to expand their holidays to include family and friends out west. Maybe this Christmas they would be able to take some time off and fly to California for a while.

Glancing down at his wrist, Adam noticed his communicator sitting there. There was one thing that had brought him to California recently. It was good, he was glad that he had the opportunity to fight again. He'd gotten the chance a few times since walking away from his morpher. Each time it had been something different, and each time it hadn't been more than a short commitment. Which was good because with his schedule that was all he had time to give.

His ranger excursions as of late had been offering aid to current teams. And although he missed being a full time ranger, his life in New York with his wife and career was more important. So by helping he got the best of both worlds. Although by accepting the blue ranger coin he thought he'd end up doing more than just helping. But so far that hadn't been the case.

Then again, according to what Rocky just told them they hadn't even fought since the last time Adam helped out. He was inclined to believe that was a good thing, but Rocky was pretty insistent that the team agreed that there was a storm brewing. He hoped Rocky was wrong, but he didn't know enough about the situation to make a good judgment. It was going to keep him on alert though because if it was as bad as Rocky indicated it might be, they were going to need him.

"Who was that?" Tanya asked as she walked into their home office and leaned casually against the doorway. She really didn't care, she was just curious as to where Adam had wandered off to.

"Rocky." Adam replied with a smile as his wife walked in and leaned against the desk.

Tanya smiled at him. "Did he call to whisk you away to ranger duty?" It was weird to her that Adam was sitting at home on call with an active coin in his pocket. But he was supposedly not a full time ranger and she was glad that he was getting the opportunity to help out.

She was well aware that for him, leaving the rangers was the hardest part of the decision to come to New York with her. That was a huge part of who he had been for the last two and a half years and he loved the opportunity to make a difference as a ranger. She knew it was hard on him to walk away from the team and she always respected that he did that for her. She hadn't had as difficult of a time leaving the rangers. She hadn't been a ranger long when she'd gotten the opportunity to record music. And although she loved being a ranger and she loved the team, it was much easier for her to walk away.

Adam let out a little laugh. "No he doesn't need to call me for ranger duty." He reminded as he held up his wrist to show his communicator. "We were just catching up."

"How are things in Angel Grove?" Tanya questioned.

"The usual." Adam said with a shrug although there really wasn't much usual about what was going on. "Although there aren't any attacks at the moment." He added to his earlier statement. He paused for a minute and then continued. "The rangers are all getting together for Thanksgiving tomorrow."

It wasn't hard for Tanya to notice the touch of sadness in his voice when he mentioned the rangers Thanksgiving. She knew how much he'd love to be there but it just wasn't practical with his schedule. She'd love to go see old friends, although she doubted Kat was invited since she and Carri had been at odds lately. "We'll have to go to California and visit sometime." She didn't know when, but they could definitely carve out some time.

"That would be fun." Adam replied as he reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

Tanya squeezed back and tugged his arm slightly, indicating that she wanted him to get up. "Come on. Let's go get ready for the party." They still had some time before they had to be there, but she thought maybe they could have some fun before the party.

Adam allowed Tanya to pull him up before he gave her a smile. If there was one thing that was always going on in New York it was parties. And although it wasn't the same as spending time with the rangers, tonight he was going to somewhat of a pre-Thanksgiving party with the people he worked with. At least it would give him some time to get out and have some fun, and by the end of the night he will have forgotten about the homesick feeling calls from Angel Grove tended to give him.

* * *

Kim sat in a white room as Mystic Mother stood behind her trying to teach her what she wanted her to do. Although she was grateful for the opportunity, Mystic Mother was a somewhat difficult teacher and she couldn't help but think about Rita as Mystic Mother gave direction.

Purified didn't mean that she was a new person, just someone who had the evil removed from her. She still sounded the same, and the parts of her personality that weren't influenced by evil still shone through. When Kim closed her eyes to concentrate, Mystic Mother's words sometimes took her back thirteen years ago to when they were fighting her as Rita.

That gave her moments of uncertainty, and she would have to bring herself back to reality and focus on Mystic Mother, not who she was. It was hard though, and she'd admit that there were still a few doubts pulling on her. But she had to try her hardest to trust her. After all, she was getting a feel for what it was like to be thought of as evil while trying her hardest to prove she was good.

So far their working relationship was proving to be quite beneficial. Mystic Mother had taught her a lot, even if it mostly involved manipulating shadows. Now that she was mastering shadows, she'd finally started to learn some more complex concepts. So far today had been quite interesting. Although it would be a while before she made it up to the concepts that were complex enough to handle Rhianna. At least that was her assumption.

After thinking about it for a moment, she decided she had to ask the question. "Is this going to be enough to uphold my end of the bargain? I don't think Rhianna is going to hold off much longer."

"No." Mystic Mother said. The thought had occurred to her that Kim wasn't going to be fully ready when the time came and she had prepared for that. She had a few simpler things Kim could do to help, then she was going to use a spell to temporarily draw off of Kim's powers so she could channel what was necessary to break the bond that the crystal and the gem had on her daughter. "I have a plan to work around it though. We will discuss it before you leave."

"Fine." Kim said simply as she went back to what she was doing. She couldn't help but wonder exactly what Mystic Mother's plan was. It felt odd that she was leaning back and allowing her to do the planning that would be required for this. After all, she was the one here who was a ranger. But Mystic Mother knew what she didn't and she was going to have to trust her.

Mystic Mother said nothing as she watched Kim go back to work. Her plan was theoretical but she had a good feeling that it would work. It had to work, her daughter's safety was dependant on it. She let out a small sigh as she thought about her daughter. She couldn't believe she was alive and well. Perhaps well was to be debated, but she was alive.

There had been a lot of time for mourning after she had been purified. Her purification had been both happy and sad. Her only daughter was lost to her forever. That was a hard thing for a mother to swallow. She had sent her away so she would be safe during the final battle. She was only an infant the last time she saw her, but she was the most beautiful infant she had ever laid eyes on.

Every day that passed she thought about her daughter and wondered who she would be now if she were still alive. She wondered what she would be doing, if she would be learning magic from her mother or dancing with her father. Or laughing at her uncle as he stumbled through his day. On the outside she was strong, practicing good magic and trying to help good conquer evil, conquer what she had been. On the inside she silently held on to the memory of her daughter. The pain was almost gone, but that didn't mean she was going to forget her.

Eventually they were going to try to have another child. They were still relatively young where their lifespan was concerned. There was plenty of time to try and have children again. They were going to wait until they were ready to move past Rhianna.

But now they didn't have to move past her. She was alive and well and although in her early twenties, she was still her baby girl especially considering how long she had the ability to live. She couldn't wait to get bring her back home, to introduce her to her family. It wouldn't be easy to break evils hold on her but she had to do it. She was glad that Kim was on her side, the last thing she wanted to do was go against the rangers to save her daughter.

She watched as Kim sat back and sighed, the spell she was working on not going quite according to plan. "These things don't come easy." Mystic Mother pointed out.

"Of course they don't." Kim grumbled. Why would they come easy. Nothing about her Muirantian powers came easy. She got her first power by sneezing herself across the timeline. That took a lot of practice to begin to tame, why should this be any different.

"One day this will all become second nature to you. But it's going to take a lot of practice and willingness to learn on your part." Mystic Mother tried to encourage her to continue on. And for the favor she was getting in return, she was willing to work with Kim until she was a master sorceress, no matter how many years it took.

"I'm willing." Kim quickly assured her. If she wasn't willing she wouldn't have made the deal in the first place. That didn't mean the path to sorcery was going to be easy going and that she wasn't going to get frustrated. But she was a strong woman and she had experience with the frustration with her powers already. She'd move past it and push on.

"Good." Mystic Mother said, gesturing toward the project Kim was working on. "There are many things for you to learn. First though you must finish this."

Kim nodded as she sat back up. She was determined to get through this, one small step at a time.

* * *

Jason sat on the couch, watching as Carri walked back and forth through the rooms of her house, unloading all her shopping bags and putting decorations out. "Since when did you become Martha Stewart?" he teased as she put out her placemats.

Carri stopped short and put her hands on her hips. "Haha." She said dryly making a face. "I'm not cooking so I figured that the least I could do was buy a few decorations and put them out. Which, by the way, does not make me Martha Stewart."

"Whatever." Jason actually thought it was a nice touch on her part but he wasn't going to say that out loud. "You know cooking is more important than this decoration crap. Don't you want the house to smell nice for your guests?" He couldn't help but continue to jab at her. It was fun.

Carri snorted. "Have you repressed the three and a half years we lived together?" she questioned, referencing when they all shared an apartment in college.

"I tried really hard to. You and Kim with your constant chattering. You almost burning down the kitchen. Twice. And the list goes on." He wouldn't trade those years in for anything and the girls knew it. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to give them hell.

"See. You remember the kitchen. That's why we are going to have a damn good meal done by somebody else. Which should still give the kitchen a nice Thanksgiving scent. If not," she paused as she reached into a Yankee Candle bag and brought out her pumpkin pie scented purchase, "instant Thanksgiving smell."

"Still it's not the same as Thanksgiving when you were young. Your parents cooking all day, the aromas filling the hallways making you and your brother excited for the upcoming dinner." He should let it drop. But he couldn't help but continue on.

Carri glanced over at him and rolled her eyes. "Apparently you've never had dinner with my family." She couldn't remember her parent's ever actually cooking Thanksgiving dinner. When she was really young they celebrated with other relatives. Most of her memories were of her mother having hired help to cook dinner. As she went back to emptying bags, she caught Jason's smirk out of the corner of her eye. She made a frustrated sound before she spoke. "Is there some reason that you've graced me with your presence today or are you just here to irritate me? If that's the case, there's the door."

"Nah. I came over to chat. Irritating you is just a bonus." Jason replied with a grin. He watched as she rolled her eyes and abandoned her purchases before walking over and collapsing into the recliner. She folded her arms over her chest and gave him an annoyed look. He tried not to laugh.

"I'm done with the irritation part so chat." She said firmly. She wasn't mad with him, not really. And he knew it too, he'd known her long enough. But that wasn't going to keep her for playing it up for the time being.

"Everything's cool for tomorrow right?" Jason questioned as he slouched back into the couch and glanced at her.

She waved her hand in the general direction of the kitchen. "I'm working on it. If you have some ideas you want to contribute feel free. I may or may not listen."

Jason chuckled. At this point it was probably a may not but it didn't matter. That wasn't what he came to talk about. "It's not about that. I trust you not to screw up too bad." He paused as she huffed. "I just want to make sure your ok with Emily coming." He had pressed the issue at first and she'd said yes. But he was never clear if it was a "yes shut up" or "yes Emily's welcome to dinner".

"You know me well enough to know that if I was thinking no, I would've said it." Carri said, her earlier irritation dropping as she was surprised by his question.

"I know dinner went well and Emily really enjoyed it." Jason said. Emily was glad that she could have a civilized dinner with Jason's friends, who a few years ago had some choice words to say about her. "And I know you said everything was fine but I can tell you're still unsure about her."

"What do you want me to say? I still remember her breaking your heart. And the contact I've had with her between then and last week's dinner wasn't pretty. You've got to give me time. I've got to give her time." Carri quickly pointed out. She had a feeling that Jason was ready for things to go back to the way things were the moment he saw her in K's world. Carri didn't want to sleep with her and it was going to take more than just seeing her to make them good friends again.

She sighed and continued. "Her coming tomorrow is fine. It'll be good to talk civilly to her some more considering we've only had the one dinner. If you feel things are weird or she feels things are weird they probably are. I'm sure they'll get better though." It was probably going to be weird for a while, until they all warmed back up to each other again. She imagined they would eventually unless Emily did something stupid.

Jason nodded. She was right. And it meant a lot to him that she and Kim were even trying. But he did miss days past. However this was a step in the right direction. "Good. Tomorrow should be fun then. And" He stopped short when the door to the garage swung open.

Rocky walked in and glanced from Jason to Carri. He didn't realize that the black ranger was going to be dropping by. But he wasn't going to let the two of them hanging out bother him. That was a fight that wasn't worth having. "Hey babe." He said, heading into the living room and giving Carri a kiss.

"Hey." She said returning it. "How did classes go?" she asked. He had been at work for a while. There were a few classes that voted to go ahead and come in that day, then the school would close Thursday and Friday.

"Good. I think the students were glad we didn't take today off." Rocky replied with a smile as he glanced toward Jason. "What have you guys been up to?"

"He came over after I got done shopping so he could irritate me." Carri said dismissively. Jason gave her a Cheshire cat grin and Carri stuck her tongue out.

Rocky shook his head. He wasn't sure quite what was going on while he was away. "Do I need to separate you two?"

Jason shook his head no. "I've got to get out of here anyway." He said as he stood. He had some work to finish at home and then he was supposed to meet Emily for drinks. "I'll talk to you later."

Carri and Jason exchanged goodbyes and as he exited the front door, she turned her attention back to Rocky. "Good. You're just in time to help me finish decorating."

"Decorating?" He questioned raising an eyebrow. She smiled and nodded, jumping up and grabbing his hand, leading a curious Rocky into the kitchen.

* * *

Rhianna sat in her room, focused and ready. She hadn't felt this way in weeks and it was actually quite nice to be herself again. They had a plan, a good plan if she could say so herself. She didn't think it would be hard to defeat the rangers. She had been out of commission for awhile, they were most likely relaxed having no idea that in the last week they had come up with this plan to totally demolish them.

When it was done she would set out to be Queen of Earth. Or not queen… Empress… yes she liked Empress Rhianna much better. Of course she wasn't sure what one actually did with a planet. Goldar always said her mother was looking forward to wearing the crown jewels while people bowed at her feet. Perhaps she'd try that.

There was one thing she knew she wanted to do when this was all said and done. She wanted to find Skull. She wasn't sure if she could make things right with him. He was going to have to forgive her for, well, being evil as it were. Maybe he'd understand. She was doing this for her parents. That had to count for something.

If she was lucky he'd forgive her and be her Emperor. It would be a much sought after position and she'd love for him to have it. She was hoping that he would take it when she offered. He couldn't be too angry with her. She wasn't trying to destroy his world, only kill those that killed her parents. After that, the rest of the world should simply fall in line.

A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about Skull. She couldn't help but wonder what he was doing right now. Maybe he was working. Or thinking about her. She hoped he was thinking about her. She certainly thought of him often. Just because she was back on her path for revenge didn't mean that she didn't enjoy the time they had spent together. Enjoy was an understatement. He had thrilled her to no end.

Whether or not masquerading as a human to fit in on the surface was a good idea, she was glad she had done it. It gave her a chance to find someone she cared about, someone she could appreciate freely when this was done and she could be herself. She hoped he liked herself, could appreciate herself. Gina had been close to herself but she had to hold back. Perhaps that hadn't been fair. He'd know her soon enough. She was looking forward to finishing this and going to see him.

She did feel bad about losing focus while she was with Skull. Cratus made her realize that she had to follow this through, or else everything that happened along the way would have meant nothing. She didn't want Goldar's death, or even Callisto's entrapment to mean nothing. Despite everything that happened, they had both been there for her over the years and at the very least she owed it to them to continue. She had to complete their original goal, to destroy the rangers, to do everything her mother wanted and more. It would be a glorious day for her family and she couldn't wait.

As the thoughts were swirling around Rhianna's head, someone approached her room and knocked on the door. She quickly abandoned everything in order to focus on her visitor. "Come in." She spoke firmly. She had been working on becoming the leader over the last week, trying to be in charge of this operation so that she could be the empress she wanted to be. She did feel a bit more confident in her abilities and she liked that.

Cratus opened the door and stepped through the threshold, glancing at Rhianna. She appeared to be the strong and focused witch she had the capability to be, and although he didn't know her parents well he assumed they would be proud of what she had become. He was glad that she was about to have the chance to prove herself, to kill the rangers and take what she deserved, getting revenge for all those who had fallen along the way.

He was inclined to keep one or two of the rangers alive to torture them for the location of the orb that held Callisto. But he doubted the crazy demon would give that secret up to anyone, let alone the rangers. He was going to have to figure out how to contact her and convince her to restore Callisto. That would be easier said than done but he'd certainly try.

Pushing that thought aside he focused on Rhianna. "We'll be ready soon." He said. There were just a few details that he needed to work out then they could attack. This was one of the best plans they'd come up with and he couldn't wait to put it into motion.

"When will we be attacking?" Rhianna questioned. She liked the idea of soon. She wanted to get this taken care of so she could move on to other things.

"Hopefully before the day is out." Cratus replied. It certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibility. They had a small army working hard to get everything set up exactly to their specifications.

Rhianna gave him a nod as she tried to avoid the giddy schoolgirl look. "Is there anything I need to do to assist you?" she questioned, proud of herself for remaining quite professional.

Cratus thought for a moment. They were going to need her for the finishing touches. "We'll need use of your abilities soon."

She couldn't help but wonder what abilities. He had to have been referencing either the power she'd been given or the sorcery skills she had learned. "I'll do whatever it takes to get us moving forward."

"Good. I'll call for you when we're ready." Cratus said, turning to exit the room.

"Wait." Rhianna called as she stood, watching as Cratus stopped and turned toward her. "I'll join you. I'd like to see what's going on first hand." She was curious as to what they were doing and she couldn't wait to take a look at it.

"Of course." Cratus replied, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him. She exited the room before him and he thought about how odd it was for her to be in charge now. He wasn't used to taking orders from her, but he'd listen to her. Callisto had faith that she'd have the power to pull this off. He'd have to as well. It was what the goddess would want, for him to stand by her while she destroyed the rangers.

He smiled as he exited the door behind her. It wouldn't be long before those multi-colored headaches took their last breaths. A smile crossed his lips. He couldn't wait.

* * *

Kim arrived in her living room after her time spent with Mystic Mother to find Tommy sitting on the couch waiting for her. She was a bit surprised; she thought he'd be out until closer to dinnertime. Of course she supposed it wasn't a big deal. He did know that she teleported herself to and from the house whenever it was necessary.

"Hey." Tommy greeted. He had seen the shopping bags sitting on the kitchen table and the open mail sitting on top of the table and figured she was home from her trip at the mall. But with her car in the parking lot, he couldn't help but be a tad curious as to what she was up to. "What time did you and Carri get done shopping?"

"We left the mall around three." Kim said casually, going to have a seat beside of him.

Tommy took a note of the current time. They left the mall a half hour ago. And if Kim had driven home since then, and taken time to bring her bags inside and go through the mail the odds were that she wasn't just out and gone on her side trip, she had bent time. "Where else did you go this afternoon? Did you find anything out about Rhianna?" He was hoping that was what she was doing. Figuring out what Rhianna was doing and how to stop her was at the top of the priority list.

"Kind of." Kim said with a shrug. Crap. Like it or not, she was going to have to tell him now. She was planning on coming home and having some time to think about what she was going to say. She was going to tell him today, she had to. Carri was right, if she didn't tell him he'd turn his weapons on Mystic Mother. Not that he might not try to fire at her anyway.

Tommy made a face. He wasn't sure how one was kind of finding stuff out about Rhianna. Either she did or she didn't. Unless she was with Dulcea, who mentioned a few tidbits that might help. "Were you out training?"

"For the most part." Kim said, taking a deep breath. She really didn't know how she wanted to approach the subject. She had to be gentle enough that she would get the least amount of anger out of him.

"With Dulcea?" Tommy asked, although he thought it was implied. He didn't know of anyone else who Kim did her training with.

"No I was with someone new." Kim said as she stared down at her hands that were tapping nervously in her lap. How she was going to ease into this she didn't know. She looked back up and smiled at Tommy. "I was working with Mystic Mother."

Tommy cocked his head slightly and looked at Kim. The name Mystic Mother sounded vaguely familiar but he didn't know anything about her. "Who's that?"

"She's a sorceress. Apparently I have that ability too." Kim said, thinking about how slowly but surely she'd get there. What the next step was, she wasn't sure. She'd have to keep vaguely easing him into it. "She was born evil. She's since been purified and now fights to use her magic for good. Considering I'm carrying demon DNA she's the best person to teach me to become a good sorceress."

"Kim…" Tommy's voice trailed off as he looked at her sternly. She smiled and shrugged, not knowing exactly what she wanted to say. He didn't like the idea that she was working with anyone who was born evil. It's not like Karone, who was pushed into that life. This is someone who's born evil and purified, who says the switch won't one day flip back the other way. "Who was Mystic Mother before? Anyone we've heard of?" He prayed it wasn't a name he'd read in Zordon's logs, someone who attacked their old mentor years ago. Someone who may love to get their hands on Zordon's rangers.

Kim closed her eyes. It was now or never. "Before she was purified, Mystic Mother was Rita." She didn't even get a chance to explain herself further before Tommy exploded.

"Rita? Rita Repulsa?" He questioned angrily as Kim shook her head yes. He knew why he knew the name Mystic Mother now. He'd met her in K's world. He should've known. "How could you trust Rita? The woman who made me serve her as the evil green ranger. And let's not forget about how many times she tried to kill you. And the ones she nearly succeeded. This is the stupidest thing you've done since becoming Muirantian. Damnit Kim. Rita probably just wants to draw you in and kill you."

"She's been purified!" Kim yelled back. She knew it wasn't helping anything, but she didn't care. He was furious with her and she had to make him understand. "Don't you remember the Zordon wave? That was powerful enough to wipe out all of our enemies, turning some of them to good."

"I know about the purification." Tommy spoke harshly. He didn't like the assumption that he had forgotten about the Zordon wave, or what it had done. But they didn't know what was going to happen after the purification. Were the effects permanent? Would they eventually fall back into old patterns? Nobody knew, not even Billy. "That doesn't mean she's going to be good forever. Come on Kim, don't you find it a little odd that she shows up now? While her daughter is working hard to kill us? What if she's softening you up so Rhianna can finish you off?"

"You're right Tommy it isn't a coincidence." Kim said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "She came to me, asking for my help in freeing Rhianna from her evil powers and helping her turn good. In exchange she's teaching me magic. I agreed."

"And how do you know she's not lying?" Tommy questioned, crossing his arms as well. He didn't like the idea at all. He wasn't comfortable with Kim learning from Rita. And he didn't trust that she wouldn't one day change her mind and kill her, assuming that it's not her plan from the beginning.

"I don't. But I have to try. If she helps us against Rhianna I'd say that's a good indication that she isn't evil." Kim replied as she glared at him.

"What if she doesn't? What if they team up to kill us? What then? I think this is a horrible decision." Tommy wasn't going to budge on the issue. Purified or not, there was no way they could risk working with Rita.

"Maybe but it's my decision to make. She came to me." Kim reminded him. "And the decision has been made. She'll be there next time we fight Rhianna."

"Last time I checked, I was still the leader of the team." Tommy reminded her, watching as a flash of anger shot through her eyes. "I should at least get a say in whether or not we'll let Rita stand by our side."

"I'm sorry Tommy but we have to try. It's our only option." Kim paused as she thought about how they had absolutely nothing to combat Rhianna. She was right and she hoped Tommy knew it. Before Tommy could protest she continued. "And if we're wrong, if I'm wrong, I will carry that burden and I will work damn hard to figure out how to fix it. But I don't think I'm wrong. After all, what would she need me for if her plan was to team up with Rhianna to kill us?"

"Fine." Tommy said harshly. He didn't like it, not in the least. And he wasn't going to trust Rita. If she showed up he was going to keep watch over her, ready to take her out if she so much as looked at the team the wrong way. He stood up off the couch and snatched his keys off the counter. He had some things he could do, and now was as good of a time as any. He could use the fresh air and the space to think. "I'll be back."

Kim watched as Tommy headed out the door and slammed it behind him. That went about as well as she expected. She knew Tommy would never trust Rita. But she was going to have to trust Rita and Tommy was going to have to trust her. She let out a small sigh. She supposed she had to tell the rest of the team so no one would be surprised when the time came. She'd call Carri, she could tell Rocky. And she'd go herself to fess up to Jason. He wasn't going to be much happier than Tommy was.

* * *

Billy sat in the Command Chamber deep in thought. He had been monitoring the moon closely as of late. He was surprised; Tommy's persistence may have actually paid off. Shortly after they started monitoring full time, they started to see some activity.

It seemed as though they were in the middle of putting together something big, the problem was figuring out what. He and Tommy had worked on it over the last few days but couldn't come up with anything. He had elected to come up here today and see if anything new was going on, if he could figure anything out. But so far he had nothing.

It was frustrating to not be able to figure anything out. But he didn't know what to expect. It wasn't like they would put a sign on the surface of the moon detailing their latest evil plan. It was odd though that there was seemingly no activity for so long then there was a flurry of activity.

He sighed and sat back in his chair, watching as a beam of white light materialized in the Command Chamber, fading away to reveal his wife. "Hey." Billy greeted her with a smile.

"Hello." Trini replied as she walked over toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss. "I was coming to check on you."

"I'm still trying to figure this out." Billy said as he shook his head.

Trini nodded. She knew he was working overtime for the rangers. It was frustrating sometimes though. She missed having her husband at home with her. Before he went back to helping the rangers he worked a lot. But lately she barely saw him. She wasn't angry with him. She couldn't be, he was working hard to save the world. He was the only thing the rangers had to fall back on, they counted on him to make sure the equipment was working and that they had the technology needed to take on the enemy.

But that didn't mean she didn't miss her husband. She helped him out occasionally, when she wasn't swamped with her own work. Spending time with him there reminded her of when they first started dating. It was nice. All the same, she was hoping that they could go on a real date sometime soon.

"Your parents are starting to wonder where you're running off to." Trini told him. It was the main reason she had come up there. Of course she had to slip away herself to do it.

"I suppose they are." Billy said with a sigh, taking his wife by the waist and gently pulling her down into his lap. They had arrived at his parents that morning in order to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with them. It wasn't long before he decided he needed to check on things and, using work as an excuse, he came up to the Command Chamber to go back to trying to work out the Rhianna situation.

"Should I tell them that you're still tied up with work?" Trini asked. She hated that he was going to spend the first day of his time with his parents up here.

Billy thought about it for a moment. He wanted to find some sort of connection. But this data wasn't going to give him anything. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to go home and return once he received an alert that there was new activity. "No. I'll return to their house with you."

"Good." Trini said as she leaned down and gave him a kiss. Not that she didn't want him to do what he deemed was necessary, but she would like it if he returned home with her. "Do you need to finish up here or are you ready to go?"

Billy glanced at the consoles, taking a quick peek at the information that had come in from the scan that was just completed. There wasn't anything new and it wasn't worth slaving over. "I'm done for now."

Trini stood and locked her hand into her husband's, pulling him up out of the chair. Billy smiled at her as he reached for his communicator. Seconds before he could hit the button, a blaring noise filled the room.

Billy raced over to the controls with Trini right behind him. He silenced the alarm and pulled the disturbance on screen. Standing there destroying whatever she could get her hands on was Rhianna. "Odd." Billy said simply. This seemed like a small display of what they had planned in comparison to what he had been monitoring as of late. And he didn't think he liked it.

"Do you want me to start alerting the rangers?" Trini asked, somewhat confused by her husband's reaction.

"Yes. We'll need everyone, including Adam." Billy said as he followed her to the communications console. As he went to make the first page he couldn't help but cross his fingers that his weapon would work again and that they could strip Rhianna of her powers and figure out how to be rid of her once and for all.

* * *

Jason and Kim were the last two rangers to arrive on the battlefield. They had just finished the Mystic Mother conversation when they had gotten the page. Needless to say, Jason wasn't very happy about the deals Kim had been making either. Although he didn't hold as deep of a grudge against Rita as Tommy did, that didn't mean he was going to like the fact that she was working with her, purified or not. Of course now wasn't really the time to worry about that.

"Rangers how good of you to join me." Rhianna said as she looked the team over. So far so good. This should be interesting. All she had to do was take it one step at a time and she'd have her revenge.

"This is going to end now." Kim said suddenly quite determined. She wondered if Mystic Mother was watching, if she was going to show up on her own. They hadn't really discussed this part. Perhaps she'd have to go get her, she wasn't sure. Silently she cursed herself for not pressing the issue more. For now she'd stay with her team. They needed her against Rhianna, especially if they were going to try to strip her of her powers again.

Rhianna cackled. She was always quite amused with the pink ranger. "For once we agree on something."

Tommy looked around. Something was off about this situation. It was just Rhianna. They couldn't get that lucky could they? He doubted it. Perhaps there was time to get one good shot off from their weapon and leave Rhianna as simply a witch, not as a woman with serious power upgrades.

"Let's finish this." Tommy said as he called for their weapon. He watched as the remaining five rangers maneuvered around him, gripping parts of the weapon as it teleported into their hands. With one swift motion they ordered for it to fire.

Rhianna smiled evilly. She was more than ready for this. They had discussed her simply moving out of the way while they fired at it and trying to get to it to destroy it. But that wasn't going to be as much fun as the plan she created. She had to spend some time with her abilities before she felt confident with it but she knew it was going to work.

As the weapon started to fire she reached within herself and pulled forth and enormous amount of energy. It shot through the crystal in her chest and she worked to focus it, watching as it hit the beam of the ranger's weapon head on. The two energy blasts collided and she could feel hers being pushed back some. It was alright though; she had stopped the blast from hitting her, that was the hard part. She tapped into all the power she had and flooded it through the energy she was already emitting. With great force it shot out, forcing the rangers beam back until it hit the center of their weapon, destroying it and scattering the rangers across the battlefield.

The rangers were slow to get up, sore from the raw energy that hit them as their weapon exploded in their hands. They noticed the smoldering pieces of their best hope scattered across the battlefield. No one knew what to think. They wouldn't give up though, they couldn't.

Kim thought for a moment. Perhaps now was a good time to go get Mystic Mother. She looked at the others who were standing with a look of determination. They'd fight Rhianna to their deaths. She couldn't let it come to that. Before she had a chance to leave the world around them darkened. As the sky above grew darker, she could hear the pops of the surrounding lights until there was nothing left.

For a moment the rangers were surrounded in total darkness. They couldn't see Rhianna, they couldn't see anything. They could all hear the low growls and the heavy breathing as they scrambled to adjust the sensors in their helmets to night vision. Before they got the chance though, Rhianna was kind enough to send a few bolts down from above, lighting up the sky.

"Son of a bitch." Carri was the first to speak, her soft spoken words echoing throughout the other rangers. She was the first to call for her weapons, holding her twin daggers tightly in her gloved hands as she prepared for a fight.

"It's an ambush." Adam spoke in the same soft voice, clutching his lance as he looked around. There were the characters that the ranger team would have expected, Cratus and the Cirranadrones. But joining them was a group of four monsters, poised and ready for battle.

The lightning strikes faded and the bright outlines of the small army disappeared. It didn't matter though, they had seen them all and were as ready as they were going to be, weapons in hand and night vision activated. Forces started to advance and the clash of weapons was heard throughout Angel Grove. No one heard the frustrated noise Kim made as she realized she didn't have the time to go get Mystic Mother. Her team needed to stay intact now more than ever.

Bodies were flying around, most of them rangers as the fight pressed on. Rhianna was giddy as she jumped in, working her hardest to make the battle more difficult than it already was. Debris flew into the darkened sky as she worked on lifting the air and swirling it around, much like a tornado. The rangers were having a hard time keeping their footing as they tried to continue a battle they were losing.

"Do not worry rangers. The great Ninjor is here." A voice spoke through the middle of the commotion. The rangers didn't turn to look at him, but that was alright with him. He was just here to do his duty. Although he was somewhat disappointed that the rangers hadn't contacted him from the start. He had been checking out Earth when he noticed the commotion and ran to help.

"Just great." Jason said with a growl. The great Ninjor was the last person they needed here. He was only going to get in the way. And he'd be damned if he'd get stuck babysitting again. Frankly he didn't give a damn if Ninjor got himself killed or not. They had more important things to worry about than his attempt to help. They needed some real help. Like the Novas. Or the Aquitarian Rangers. But he doubted there was an off world team that would get to them in time. They needed another Earth team. And since the current Overdrive campaign ended, as far as he knew they were the only assembled team here. They were on their own.

Screams were heard throughout the battlefield as one of the monsters got a good shot off. Rocky and Tommy were slow to get up, and one of the monsters took it upon himself to help them. He picked one up in each hand, holding them both high in the air before using his powers to slam them back to the ground.

Tommy groaned, not able to ignore the aches and pains anymore as he staggered to his feet before a gust of wind knocked him back over. The team wasn't faring well at all. He wouldn't give up, he couldn't give up, but he didn't know where to go from here. Part of him wanted to yell at Kim. Where was her solution? She made this deal for what? It was a deal with the devil and he wanted to tell her I told you so. But then again, that didn't matter. He desperately wanted to make it out of here alive with her. He loved her and after all they've been through he wouldn't let it end like this. The monster that slammed him and Rocky charged back toward him. He rolled out of the way and popped up, trying his hardest to forget about the pain and find a way to win.

He didn't hear Rhianna laughing near him. She watched over the scene carefully, inflicting damage wherever she could. It was fun, the rangers were hurting. And she hadn't even gotten to the best part yet. From the chaos Cratus emerged and she gestured for him to join her. "I think we're ready to finish this."

"Would you like me to enter the next phase?" Cratus asked. This next part had been Rhianna's initial idea and he was quite pleased with her for coming up with it. He just spent some time figuring out how to execute it properly.

"Yes. This has been fun but I'm ready for it all to be over with." She said, watching as the rangers were flying all around her. She watched as she yellow and red rangers were tossed into each other, groaning as they painfully hit the ground. And they thought that hurt now.

"Good." Cratus said. He gave Rhianna a slight bow before taking off. He was excited. It was finally time for their revenge. He was glad that Callisto's vision was finally going to get carried out.

Rhianna watched him leave before turning her attention back toward the fight. She had no idea how long it was going to take him to complete his mission. She hoped it would go quickly. They had worked hard on this part of the plan to make it run smoothly and easily. She glanced out over the rangers, eager with anticipation.

None of the ranger team noticed that Cratus had slipped away. None of them had much time to notice anything except the fight in front of them. The battlefield was a flurry of activity. Everyone was getting their licks in when they could, including Ninjor, but most of them were taking more than they were giving. It was a hard fought battle, and with Rhianna continuing the environmental chaos they weren't sure how it was going to get better any time soon.

Two of the rangers found themselves getting flung around, sailing through the air until they hit each other and collapsed to the ground. "This. Sucks." Carri said, irritation clear in her voice as she slowly pulled herself to her feet.

"It's days like these that make me happy to be away in New York." Adam replied with a sigh. He did miss being a ranger. But he certainly didn't miss the beating that came when they were, like it or not, losing.

Carri stood shoulder to shoulder with Adam. "Come on, we need to show this ass who's boss." She said as she glared at the monster and Cirranadrones that were making their way toward them.

"I agree." Adam replied as the wind kicked up around them. He didn't know what good it was going to do, but it was time to jump back in again.

They both ran straight past the Cirranadrones, weapons out. They went right for the heart of the monster, attacking him furiously. They kicked him back and went to jump toward him again, weapons out. As they got closer the spandex that worked so hard to protect them disappeared from around their bodies as if they had powered down. They landed on the monster who grabbed them both and threw them off of him. They hit on the ground with a thud and found themselves rolling to a different section of the battlefield.

Everything ached as they tried their hardest to pick themselves up. They could no longer see what was going on, but they could hear Tommy's cries from across the battlefield. "It's morphin time!" he yelled as he and the rest of the team went for their coins. Much to their dismay nothing happened.

From behind the rangers Rhianna giggled. "Your coins are useless now." She said, trying her hardest to contain her excitement. Her plan worked. Cratus had damaged the grid. The rangers would no longer be able to morph. Now she could line them up like ducks and pick them off one by one.

Tommy thought quickly. They had to do something. Perhaps the safe route was to run. But he wouldn't, he couldn't leave the city at her mercy. They still had some sort of powers. He didn't know how much good they would do but he had to try. "Ninjetti, falcon!"

"Ape!"

"Frog!"

"Cougar!"

Carri shook her head as the others went to their Ninjetti forms. They were going to get themselves killed like that. She had another trick up her sleeve and she hoped whatever Rhianna did wouldn't affect it. It may be the only chance they've got at staying alive. "Planetary rangers power up!" she called out. Within seconds she was morphed into planetary form, relieved that one of them stood some sort of chance.

Kim's thoughts followed that of their friends. They couldn't leave the battlefield. They were the only line of defense against Rhianna. But they couldn't fight as Ninjetti either. The Ninjetti were great against Tengas and Cogs and maybe even Cirranadrones, but they wouldn't hold up against this army for long. Carri had the right idea. She'd be able to provide some sort of protection. Kim should join her, but she didn't know how long that would help. She didn't think they could win this battle like that, not without rangers losing their lives. And she wasn't willing to make that sacrifice.

That left her with one option. She had to find Mystic Mother. If she wasn't coming to the battlefield, Kim would have to go get her. As much as she didn't want to leave now, she knew she had to. How much good was she really going to do here? It was going to be hard to keep them all safe. The only person who could help them now was Mystic Mother. She'd have to move quickly and bend time as close as she possibly could. If she didn't, there might not be much to come back to. Mind made up, Kim teleported herself to the Mystic Realm.

The red glow of Kim's teleporting herself shone brightly against the dark sky. Everyone was aware that she had left them. Nobody knew what was going on. Rhianna laughed. She thought that Kim would be the last one to run but it was a pleasant surprise. Now she had to deal with the others. The Ninjetti she could wipe the floor with. And one lone morphed ranger wouldn't last long, not when she was going to be more worried about protecting her friends. She looked out over everyone and smiled. "It's time to finish this."

* * *

Skull found himself sitting in Bulkmeier's after his work day was done. He could hear the monster alarm going off in the distance. Some people were panicking. Most stayed put. Years of dealing with this kind of stuff taught him that it was always safest to not move and let the rangers handle the situation until someone said differently. He actually enjoyed the monster alarm. It was kind of depressing. It matched his mood.

He was at the bar downing another beer and staring at his cell phone, willing it to ring. So far he was disappointed with the results. He flipped it open and went to the contacts, scrolling down until he found her name. He thought about calling her. He wanted to call her. But each time he had called over the last week and a half he'd gotten the same result. Nothing. With a sigh he closed the phone back and set it on the bar top where he could continue to stare.

"You've got to stop moping around here like this." Bulk said as he walked over to his longtime best friend.

"I just don't understand Bulkie. We were having so much fun together. I thought there was a real connection. Now she won't even answer my calls." Skull sighed. He didn't think a woman would make him feel like this, especially one he hadn't known for that long. But yet here he was.

"Maybe something happened." Bulk said with a shrug. "I mean it hasn't been that long. Maybe she had to take a trip for work. Or had a family emergency on the other side of the country."

"And she couldn't take ten seconds to call and tell me she'd call me when she got back?" Skull questioned. It was nice of Bulk to try and cheer him up, but he wasn't sure how well it was working.

"You said yourself she didn't have a cell phone. If your number is at home and she had to rush off real fast maybe she forgot. If your mom is dying, the last thing you're going to remember is to grab your new boyfriend's number." Bulk pointed out. He was sure there was a logical explanation for her absence. When he saw them together they looked like they were having a lot of fun. He doubted she'd run off like that.

"I know." Skull said with a sigh. It didn't make it better. Perhaps he did something wrong and she wanted nothing to do with him. "But" He stopped short when the sliver of sky through the windows darkened. "That's odd."

Bulk quickly reached for the television remote and turned the station to the news, cranking the volume up. The reporter's voice was loud and clear within a few seconds. "And it appears as though the woman in charge has destroyed the surrounding street and business lights, as well as brought darkness over our fair city. We are trying to see if we can capture what is going on but it's most likely that we are too far away to have enough light to see anything."

Most of the restaurant's patrons had gathered near Bulk and Skull, watching as the news camera panned over the darkness. They could hear the rangers battle cries in the night, and occasionally they thought they could see a silhouette of one of the rangers. After a few moments of trying to see what was going on, the reporter's voice spoke again.

"We are trying to get a better view of the action." She said, knowing that the odds weren't good that they'd get close enough. "For those of you just joining us, let's take a look at some earlier footage to see how this started."

The newscast switched to the previous footage. They had arrived on scene shortly before the last of the rangers. They got a good look at the standoff, including a close up shot of the person who was doing the terrorizing.

"No. That can't be." Skull said in a whisper. He didn't want to believe it. He could spot some differences. But deep in his heart he knew it was true.

"What?" Bulk asked as he squinted and looked harder at the news cast, trying to figure out what had made his friend turn white as a ghost.

"That's her." Skull said as he pointed toward the television. Bulk looked over at him curiously and he elaborated. "That's Gina."

"What?" Bulk questioned as he looked closely at the television screen. Was that possible? He supposed it was. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that the bad guys made someone evil.

"That explains everything." Skull said as he jumped up. What if they had made her evil? That looked like the same woman who had been attacking all along. Maybe Gina had broken their spell and escaped, and was trying to start over. That would explain a lot. But Gina, the Gina he knew, wasn't this woman on TV who was trying to kill the rangers. She was quirky but not evil. If they found her and kidnapped her and made her evil again, that would certainly be why she wasn't calling him.

"What are you doing?" Bulk questioned as Skull started to step away from the bar.

"I've got to go out there. Maybe… maybe if I can talk to her… she's not evil Bulkie maybe I can break the spell." Skull said as he headed toward the doorway.

Bulk turned and chased after him. "Are you sure that's smart? The rangers are out there they'll"

"The rangers will kill her." Skull interrupted him. It was obvious that they didn't know who she was. And he wouldn't blame them for killing someone who they thought was evil in order to keep her from killing them and destroying Angel Grove. "I've got to get out there and convince them she's not evil. To not kill her, to give her a chance."

Bulk frowned. He didn't like the idea one bit. Skull was rushing toward a battle that the rest of the city was running away from. He was afraid it wouldn't end well. But if he really liked Gina and he felt like he had to do this, he wasn't going to stop him. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Skull replied before turning and taking off through the front door.

* * *

Carri stood in the middle of the battlefield as the only ranger with morphin powers. More importantly she was the only ranger with the ability to see in the dark as the Ninjetti powers had no helmets to equip with night vision. Kim would have had an advantage as well had she not taken off. She really wasn't sure what was going on but she hoped it was good.

As it stood it was up to her to keep watch on the battlefield, to see if she could help the others stay alive long enough for Kim to do whatever it was she had planned. As of right now, this plan sucked. If they lived long enough she planned on giving Kim a piece of her mind. But for now she had to help the others.

She grabbed Adam by the arm and led him to the center of the battlefield and told him to wait there. Quickly she rounded up the other three Ninjetti and moved them off to the center as well. Ninjor, who could also see through the darkness, realized what she was doing and went to join her. Within minutes the ranger force was standing back to back, trying to prepare for whatever they were going to throw at them.

"How cute." Rhianna said with a laugh. It was just as she thought. The morphed ranger was going to take the lead. That was going to be her downfall. "Teamwork isn't going to help you though."

"Teamwork is going to be enough to get rid of you." Tommy threatened, his voice showing more confidence than he actually felt.

"We shall see." Rhianna said as she motioned for her minions to attack. This was going to be too easy.

Carri and Ninjor saw them coming. Ninjor tried shouting out directional commands to the other rangers but it wasn't helping. They needed light. Carri knew it wasn't a permanent solution but at least the others could see what was coming their way, if only for a few seconds. The sky lit up as bolts flew across, giving the others a glimpse of what they needed to prepare for. Carri stepped forward a little bit and attacked the first creature coming her way.

She could hear the others attempt to start fighting as well. There were more sounds of pain coming from them than that of victory. She tried to divide her attention between her monster and looking at the others, ready to run back at a moment's notice.

Rhianna took note of her behavior. She was more concerned with keeping her friends alive than fighting. If her friends stared dying, she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Perhaps it was time to start picking them off. It was easy to decide who to start with. There was one ranger in particular whose death would kill her. She summoned the power from within and prepared to fire a shot.

Carri ducked a shot from the monster and did a quick glance around the battlefield. That was all she needed to see the faint glow of the shot Rhianna was about to fire. She followed her line of sight and wasted no time going to intercept her. "Rocky!" she yelled trying to get his attention as she ran over to him and pushed him out of the way.

Rocky didn't get a chance to see it coming. He did see the blast hit her, and he saw her faint outline fall to the ground. "Carri!" he yelled for her as he attempted to make his way over to her. He didn't get far though; he was attacked from the side. He hit the ground and rolled and as he got up he knew he had to find her and help her. But he hadn't the first clue which direction she was in anymore.

He could hear the chaos start to erupt now that the morphed ranger was down. He could hear Ninjor moving around trying to help, but his cries indicated that he wasn't faring well either. They couldn't see the attacks coming, they had no one there who could see who was keeping a good eye on them. He could hear the creatures around them coming closer and he feared the worst. This wasn't going to end well.

Carri didn't know how long she was out when she started to stir. It couldn't have been too long. No one had jumped her and ripped her limb from limb yet so she assumed that was a good thing. She rolled over onto her back and let out a soft groan. Some days she didn't know why she enjoyed being a ranger so much.

Struggling she pulled herself to her feet. She caught a glimpse of Rhianna running toward her. Quickly she used her weapon to throw her back. Satisfied that Rhianna was down for the moment she turned to look for the rest of the Ninjetti. A quick survey told her that only two were left standing. "Rocky! Tommy!" she yelled out, hoping that they would hear her and call for help, hoping that she hadn't been out long enough that she was too late. There was no response and she scanned the ground.

Through the chaos she couldn't see anybody laying there and she started to worry. What if something was seriously wrong? What if they needed her help? She hoped Billy was able to watch and could have teleported them but Rhianna got to the grid so she wasn't sure. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn't worry about that now. She had to help Jason and Adam. As she ran over to the last two Ninjetti a red glow appeared close to where they were standing.

"It's about damn time." Jason said with a growl. He had no idea where Kim had taken off to but they needed her. Rocky and Tommy had been hurt, how bad he didn't know but he'd heard them go down. He didn't know how long he and Adam would be able to remain standing.

Kim stood fully morphed with her hand firmly gripped into Mystic Mother's. For someone who was so concerned with her daughter, she hadn't been paying a bit of attention to what was happening on the surface. Kim got to her and they spent some time going over the plan one last time before she brought her back.

She was hoping she'd bend time back to the moment after she left but it was evident that she had been a little off. She'd spent two hours in the Mystic Realm, but she didn't think she was missing from the surface for longer than five minutes. The others were obviously in full fight mode, and had been for a while. The red ranger scanned the battlefield, sucking her breath in when she realized two of the Ninjetti weren't up and fighting.

Mystic Mother realized that Kim's sweetheart was missing too but there wasn't time for the Muirantian to worry about that if they were going to get this done. She held her hand tightly, preparing to draw on her powers as the two of them worked a little magic.

The others had no clue what was going on. They saw the glow coming from Kim, and they heard the words Mystic Mother was speaking. They were using their free hands to put something together, but it was too dark to tell what it was. Whatever they were working on started to glow as well, giving off a bright white color. The colors seemed to all mix together, and without warning a rainbow of light exploded, curving around everyone on the battlefield and making a beeline for Rhianna.

The light hit her straight on and she screamed as it took her high in the air. They could see the light, see Rhianna's body as it went limp. The light exploded around her, and looked like it was coming up thorough the crystal. The rangers shielded their eyes and within seconds the exploding beams of light ceased. Almost simultaneously the darkness faded away, allowing the sunlight to filter through as Rhianna's limp body hit the ground.

Kim saw the crystal and the gem that Mystic Mother's magic and managed to work out of Rhianna's body. She quickly went and grabbed them before Rhianna could wake up and go after them herself. As she grabbed them Rhianna started to stir. Kim held them tightly; she'd dispose of them later. Now was the hard part. Mystic Mother convincing Rhianna that she wasn't evil.

Rhianna stood slowly and put a hand to her chest. Her powers were gone. They'd stripped her of her powers. That was impossible. They couldn't do that could they? Anger grew inside her as she realized they had. They'd pay for what they'd done. She called for her staff and as it fell into her hands she pointed it at the rangers. "You'll pay for this. I'm going to kill you all." She said harshly. She still had her monsters and her Cirranadrones. And the rangers didn't have powers. She could do this.

"Gina no!" A voice yelled from a distance. Everyone turned to see where it was coming from. Much to the rangers surprise it was Skull who was running toward them. "You can't do this. I know you, you're not evil. Whatever made you this way we can overcome it. Don't let the evil corrupt you."

A look of surprise crossed her face as she saw him standing there. What was he doing here? She didn't want him to see her kill the rangers. She really cared about him and she wanted him to feel the same way about her. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away. Maybe if she explained he'd understand. "They made me like this!" She said with a yell as she pointed her staff at the rangers. His eyes were pleading with her and she sucked in a deep breath as she remembered why she was here in the first place. "They killed my parents!" She yelled again, more anger in these words than sadness.

"Your parents are alive and well." Mystic Mother said as she took a step toward her daughter. It was hard to see all the hatred she had over their deaths. She hoped that she could end that now, that she could bring her baby girl back.

"You lie." She hissed, turning her staff toward her mother. "My parents were killed by the Power Rangers when I was an infant."

"Your parents were given a second chance at life by the Power Rangers. Purified, much like you saw Callisto do to Goldar." Mystic Mother explained as Rhianna poked her staff in her direction, a silent warning not to come any further. "I should know, I'm your mother."

"That's impossible!" Rhianna yelled as a few tears fell down her face. She couldn't be her mother. Goldar said her mother was dead. He wouldn't lie to her.

"My child I wouldn't lie to you. Your father and I are alive and well. We lived our entire lives under the impression that you and Goldar were dead." Mystic Mother took another step forward as Rhianna took a step back. "It wasn't until Goldar escaped his prison and came to us that we realized you were alive. And that you were under the impression that we had been killed."

"How do I know that the rangers didn't just bring you here to lie to me?" Rhianna said. She was faltering, the others could tell. What would push her over the edge though, they weren't sure.

"I don't think she's lying." Skull said in a whisper. He didn't know what was going on but he trusted the rangers. "There's only two reasons why someone would have risked death to come here to you. One is that we're all certifiably crazy. Which I don't think anyone here is crazy. The other is that people came to help you. They care about you, they love you."

That brought a small smile to Rhianna's face between sniffles. Perhaps there was some truth in Skull's words. Did that mean he was right? Did he love her? That was something for another time. More important was did this woman in white love her? Was she really her mother? She studied her carefully, trying to bring back the images of her mother that Goldar had shown her growing up.

"He's right. I love you. Your father loves you. Your uncle, our closest friends, they all love you." Mystic Mother said. She stepped forward some more, pleased that Rhianna wasn't stepping back this time. "We miss you and we want you to come home. You're not evil. You need to live out your life of good with your family. To help others with good magic. This isn't you."

Rhianna was frozen. Her words touched her heart. Her family was alive and they loved her. This was her mother. The closer she got to her the more she could tell how she was almost identical to the woman in the pictures. She let out a giant sob before tears started flowing freely. "Mom." She said softly as her guard dropped.

The rangers let out a sigh of relief. Was it really over? Rhianna was going to go home with her mother to be good. It was odd, but they supposed there wasn't any reason why demon spawn couldn't reform. Before they got a chance to be excited, they were reminded of another problem.

"No!" One of the monsters yelled firmly, pissed that their leader was abandoning them by switching sides. They were created evil and they were created to fight, and they were going to destroy some rangers. He motioned for the other monsters and the Cirranadrones to join him in attacking.

The next few moments went by in a blur. Kim rushed to Carri's side, prepared to fight them off as Planetary Rangers for as long as possible. Ninjor stood back with the Ninjetti's, hoping that his skills would be of use to them. Mystic Mother scrambled to come up with some sort of magic she could pull from to assist the others. But it was Rhianna who made a difference.

They could hear her speaking, see the staff twirl around in her hands. In one quick motion she brought it high above her head before slamming it down to the ground. A wave of energy erupted from the top of the staff, flowing in a circular motion over the battle field. Before their eyes the monsters and Cirranadrones were liquidated into nothing.

"I think that's how the purification works." Rhianna said with a smile. She had pulled from all that she had learned, including what she saw Callisto do to Goldar. And it had worked. She saw her mother walk up to her and she went to give her a hug. "Mom." She whispered.

"Rhianna." Mystic Mother replied. She didn't think it was possible for a mother to be any more proud of her daughter.

While the mother daughter duo was having their reunion, the rangers were scanning the now empty battlefield for any sign of their fallen comrades. They found them lying on the ground several feet apart behind Rhianna. Kim and Carri ran to them with the others hot on their heels. They checked the Ninjetti over and to their relief found a weak pulse on both of them. Wasting no time they had them both teleported up to Billy before turning their attention back to their former enemy.

Rhianna let go of her mother and turned to see Skull standing beside her. She threw her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She apologized over and over again. She hoped he could forgive her, that they could still see each other.

Skull pushed her back gently and grinned at her. He couldn't hate her forever. She hadn't meant to be evil. The women who he had been dating was the women she was. That woman hadn't shown a hint of evil. That woman had been perfect for him. "It's a lot to take in." He said as her sobbing came to a stop and she nodded her head. "But it's ok." With those words he pulled her into him and gave her a kiss which she eagerly returned.

"Oh for heaven's sake." Mystic Mother said as she eyed the duo. She looked the man over. He looked familiar but she couldn't quite place it. Her mind drifted back to her days as Rita, spying on the rangers, and those stupid teenagers who seemed to always get into trouble. "This one?" She questioned aloud as she realized who he was. "I don't think so. Besides you're not old enough to date."

Mystic Mother grabbed her by the arm and pulled her apart from Skull. Rhianna grabbed his hand and as Mystic Mother pulled her away, she pulled Skull. "But mom I love him." She said with an exasperated sigh.

"We have to get you back home, see your father, get started on years worth of missed education…" Mystic Mother allowed her voice to trail off. "There's no time for play love."

"But he's my boyfriend. Who came, risking his own life to save mine." Rhianna pointed out, her youthful defiance already starting to show.

Rita let out a sigh. She was going to be a handful and she knew it. "We'll talk about this later. First let's go see your father." The boy did come to save her daughter. Perhaps there was something to be made of that.

Rhianna let out a grunt as she let Skull's hand go. He grinned at her as they continued to walk. She turned around and made a phone gesture with her hand, putting to her ear and mouthing "I'll call you" just before they disappeared. Skull let out a sigh. This was definitely going to be weird. But he thought it would be well worth it.

After the scene unfolded the rangers looked around at each other and shrugged. No one knew quite what to think of anything. Of Rhianna being good or of her dating Skull of all people. They supposed it didn't matter. As of now she was leading a life of good and whatever happened in their romantic lives was really none of their business. Besides they had more important things to worry about. The rangers teleported themselves back to their Command Chamber, with Ninjor teleporting himself back home, satisfied that this campaign against evil had been won by the rangers.

* * *

As Wednesday eased into Thursday, the five rangers found themselves soaking in Jason's hot tub, looking up at the stars and getting some well needed relaxation time. They had all suffered some injuries that needed soaking, with Tommy and Rocky getting the worst of it. They had hung on long enough to get them much needed medical attention. Any longer and, well neither Kim nor Carri wanted to follow that thought through.

"This is nice." Rocky spoke as he glanced over at his fiancé and smiled, reaching out through the water to grab her hand and take it into his. He and Tommy were supposed to be on bed rest. Billy had caved on the hot tub, figuring they had earned it and that there wasn't much difference between sitting in the hot tub and laying at home in bed.

"It is." Carri agreed smiling back at him. She still felt horribly guilty. He and Tommy had almost gotten killed because she had fallen in battle. She was the only one who was able to see what was going on and she had made it her responsibility to keep the others alive. She was angry at herself and she had apologized profusely but neither of them would hear it.

"It's nice to finally relax uninterrupted." Jason elaborated on Rocky's statement. He was glad that they wouldn't have to worry about Callisto and Rhianna attacking anymore. Although he was kind of disappointed that he wasn't going to be an active ranger anymore. But it was nice that tonight was the last time he'd skip out on Emily. She had been more than a little relieved that he was alright, and she had told him to rest up tonight and that she'd see him tomorrow.

Tommy nodded in his direction. He was appreciative for the ability to sit here for the moment. "I'm glad it's over." He commented. Although he doubted it was over for him. He never really left the rangers the last time, and had no plans on simply stepping back now. He doubted any of his friends would truly step back, especially his Muirantian girlfriend.

He couldn't believe they had argued that afternoon. Toward the end of the fight the thought crossed his mind that the argument may have been his last conversation with her. Of course that didn't mean he had changed his mind on the subject. Although he had been filled in on all that had happened when he almost died. Mystic Mother had saved the day, and had taken her daughter back to the Mystic Realm to live a life of good.

He had forgiven Kim for the argument from earlier, but that didn't mean he was going to be ok Kim learning magic from Rita. The thought made him more than a little uncomfortable. It was hard to think about who she is now, she was Rita. Evil, going to kill the rangers Rita. But he wasn't going to dwell on that now. For now he was going to concentrate on spending every moment he could with his beautiful girlfriend.

"Mostly anyway." Kim corrected as she leaned into Tommy. Their morphing grid had been damaged. Fortunately the damage was contained, and as far as they knew it was only effecting the connection between the grid and their coins. Billy was adamant that it was going to take a lot of work to fix and Kim had agreed. She had sensed the damage done and she was hoping that between herself, Billy and possibly even Ninjor they could eventually get it repaired.

"Mostly." Jason said with a huff. As far as he concerned it was all over. "Rhianna's gone home and Callisto is contained. I think it's pretty safe to say we don't have to worry about them anymore."

"God I hope not." Carri chimed in as she groaned and sunk further down into the water. The last thing she wanted was Callisto breaking free of the containment orb and coming after her. That blonde bitch was going to be more than a little pissed.

"Please if anybody knows that the end is never the end it's us." Kim said as she glanced between Jason and Carri.

"Look at miss rain on our parade over there." Carri said as she stuck her tongue out at her best friend. Kim was right, but that didn't mean she was going to think about that tonight.

"There will be time to worry about the future tomorrow. For now let's just enjoy the hot tub and the peace and quiet." Tommy said as he put his arm around Kim's midsection and gave it a squeeze.

"I agree with Oliver." Carri said as she scooted back up. This time it was Kim's turn to stick her tongue out at her. "We should relax. We kicked the crap out of Rhianna today."

Jason snorted and rolled his eyes and Carri reached out and kicked him in the shin. He shot her a look and she shrugged before grinning at him. Kicked the crap out of wasn't exactly the phrase he would use. More like made good punching bags for her before being rescued from her by her mother and boyfriend.

Rocky scooted closer to Carri and leaned over and kissed her on the temple. "We did hold her at bay long enough to win. I think that ought to count for something." Carri turned and planted a kiss on his lips in agreement as Kim spoke.

"Long enough for me to win. Let's not forget I orchestrated the victory." She heard Tommy's soft snicker from above her as she pushed her friend's buttons. She knew it was a team effort, they knew it was a team effort, but if she couldn't mess with her best friends then who could she pick on. Although a lot had changed over the years, their friendships was one thing that managed to pull itself back close to the way it was and she was grateful for that.

Jason let out a loud groan as he stood and pulled himself out of the hot tub. "Her to win." He muttered stepping onto the deck. "She wasn't the one out there getting her ass kicked. She just showed up at the last minute." He said to himself as he headed back inside.

Kim and Carri made eye contact with each other and laughed. Rocky looked over at Kim and made a face. "Did you just run him out of his own hot tub?"

"That's certainly what it looked like." Kim said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Hmm." Rocky spoke softly, looking deep in thought. "I would have expected that kind of devious behavior from Carri, not from you."

Carri gave him a devilish grin. "What can I say I'm rubbing off on her."

Tommy gave her his no nonsense ranger look. "If that's the case then I'm going to have to forbid Kim from hanging out with you."

Kim hit him in the stomach as she gave him and icy yet playful look of her own. Before she could comment Carri sent water splashing in Tommy's general direction, getting them both good and wet. Tommy gave her and annoyed look as he took his free hand and wiped the excess water from his face. Carri simply grinned at him. For a moment it felt as though they were back in college, with no real world worries or stresses hanging over them and it was kind of nice.

"Hey!" Jason barked, walking back out of the house. "This is a hot tub not a swimming pool. Christ I leave you all alone for two minutes and you're acting like a bunch of out of control teenagers."

Carri huffed and Kim glared at him, both of them working up protests as he climbed back in and handed them each a glass. The glass in their hands was enough for each of them to hush for the moment. The rangers watched as Jason picked up a champagne bottle and popped it open, filling each of his friend's glasses.

"I thought we deserved a toast. To us. For kicking ass and taking names this year." Jason said as he raised his glass.

"I can drink to that." Carri said as her glass went up as well. She watched as their other three teammates quickly rose their glasses in agreement.

"To the rangers." Kim said simply as their glasses clinked together and the others echoed her sentiments. Regardless of what the future brought the present was quite nice. In the past few months two major threats to their planet had been taken care of. Now it was time to sit down, relax, and enjoy the company of good friends.


	28. Reflections

**Disclaimer:** The Power Rangers and all things related belong to Disney. Callisto belongs to Universal. The characters and character descriptions from "The Coin Series" (including K, the Nova Rangers, the DG, Thomas, etc.) belong to KSuzie, who has been gracious enough to let me use them throughout Legacy. Everyone else (Carri, Chris, Rhianna, etc.) belongs to me.  
**Author's Notes:** This is the epilogue for Legacy. I wanted to thank all of you again for following me through twenty seven chapters. This has been a lot of fun to write.  
Also a quick thank you to hewhoreaps, who has been, since the last chapter of "Return to Action", reading my stuff and correcting my errors before they're posted.  
Although this is the end of an era, it is not the end of the characters. The Planetary Powers will be put to use in a new series, what will (or should lol) be the end of a trilogy that started with "Ranger Scrolls" many years ago. I'm sure that a lot of you noticed that there are plenty of loose ends to tie up and I promise I won't leave you hanging. The new series should premier later this year.

Power Rangers Legacy  
"Reflections"

Kim sat in her room, looking at herself in the mirror. After careful consideration, she decided she almost looked as good as she was going to for the night's event. It wasn't an easy decision to make as she knew there were going to be a lot of people there tonight. It was, after all an exclusive club and she doubted anyone would dare to attend in a t-shirt and jeans.

The club in question was located on the outskirts of LA, on the Angel Grove side. They were apparently having some huge, fantastic New Years Eve party and Carri had enough pull to get them all on the guest list. All of them including the five rangers, Billy and Trini, Emily and even Adam and Tanya who had taken some time off to fly to California for the holidays. The limo would be there to pick her and Tommy up shortly, as it was going to make rounds to pick up all the guests and they were going to celebrate.

It was nice to celebrate with her friends, something she had done a lot of since Thanksgiving. This past Thanksgiving they had more to be thankful for than any year before. Callisto was locked up in an orb hopefully never to be heard from again. The Cirranadrones had apparently all been destroyed by Rhianna, at least there were none left that they could find.

A few days after Thanksgiving the team went to investigate Rhianna's palace, searching through it to make sure it was empty. That it was empty was a relief considering they weren't sure if Cratus was up there or not. If they'd had to guess, everything had been left the way it was after the final battle as there was no sign that Cratus had been back there according to Rhianna, who later joined them to help clear the place out. Cratus, as far as everyone knew, was alive and well but had fled the galaxy. Although Carri was inclined to find him and pummel him into oblivion for all the trouble he'd caused over the past few years, everyone else was quite pleased as long as they never had to see his face again.

Goldar was purified and leading a life of good, working with his old friends who had been purified by the Zordon wave. Rhianna was living in the mystic realm with her mother, learning how to pool all her power into good magic while she reconnected with her parents. Of course just because she was good didn't mean she wasn't rebellious. While her mother wasn't looking she was sneaking up to the surface to be with Skull.

Her parents, for the most part, disapproved of her interest with Skull. But seeing as how Skull risked his life to save Rhianna, Mystic Mother occasionally turned a blind eye when her daughter disappeared. Kim didn't agree with that tactic. If Mystic Mother was going to put her foot down, she needed to do it now. Rhianna and Skull had become much closer over the past month and it was going to become harder to separate them. She had a feeling though that Mystic Mother considered Skull a blip on the radar. After all, Rhianna would long outlive him.

She was surprised that Rhianna and Skull lasted past the final battle. Skull swore at the final battle that he knew she was good, but he didn't know everything else about her. Like the fact that Rita and Zedd were her parents. That was the first thing she fessed up to. And from what Kim had heard, Skull was the appropriate amount of freaked out. He calmed down though after a while and decided that evil people could turn good. After all, Rhianna had. After Rhianna dropped that bombshell she decided not to offer up any more details to Skull. She wasn't keeping secrets but she didn't want to overload him, she wanted the facts to fall out on their own.

All the good things that had come out of that final battle the rangers had made happen. And somehow they had all come out of it in one piece. She chuckled to herself. They were in as much of one piece as they were going to get. Over the last year they had taken their share of bumps and bruises and she had even been demonized. Not to mention the fact that they had gotten part of their morphing grid damaged and they wouldn't be able to morph with their coins until it was fixed. She and Billy had been looking at it and they had determined that it definitely was fixable, but it was going to be a long and slow process, one that they had just begun to touch on.

She hated having the morphing grid down for when their team needed to assemble again. She was of the opinion that it was inevitable, and they had all agreed with her. After all, Cratus was still out there somewhere and they had the feeling that they hadn't seen the last of him. Plus she was under the impression that there were villains lined up around the block to take their crack at the Red Planetary Ranger with Muirantian powers. There were enough people out there who wanted a shot at her or her team or Earth and she doubted they could officially retire just yet.

But for now the fight was over and they had won. In the past month things were starting to get back to normal. Well as normal as they would get for her and her friends. While all things ranger related were still in the back of everyone's minds, they were all starting to move forward with their normal everyday lives. Everyone was finding time to get back to the things they needed to do.

Billy was still hanging around the Command Chamber. After all, they still did have a grid to fix and a universe to monitor. However most of the monitoring was done by the advanced computers and sent to Billy. Any attacks that went on, any communications that came in Billy knew about them instantly no matter where he was. With the only thing that he was focusing on being fixing the grid, Billy found himself not spending nearly as much time in the Command Chamber as he had been.

Although Trini never once indicated that she hated Billy never being home, she could tell that her old friend was much happier now that he was around more. She had gushed to her on the phone about the dates Billy had taken her on with his free time. It was nice to hear the sparks still flying in their relationship.

Jason's relationship was going quite well also. She and Carri were warming up to Emily again. Of course Jason was still standing right behind them trying to push them along. Jason didn't need to warm up to his former girlfriend anymore, they were warm enough. From what Jason had said the two of them had spent quite the sizzling few days at Angel Grove Pines, spending time skiing and, well, participating in other activities.

Jason's career was going good as well. This past year had given Jason tons of ideas of what he could add into the second book of his new smash series. He even had a thought or two for his old series whenever he decided to return back to it. But for now with all of his free time he was working hard on getting the second book to his new series out.

She had no idea what material was going into the book. She didn't know about the ranger stuff, and she had no clue where the characters relationships were going. Of course she and Carri had probably fed Jason enough over the years to keep the characters interesting for a long time. Although they were trying to avoid intentionally feeding him material, they didn't keep secrets and any time they said something to him they could see the wheels turning. They had no idea what was going to end up in this next book.

The next book was due to come out next summer, and he was hoping it would be as much of a success as the first book was. After all, he had a movie franchise that was tentatively scheduled to start the summer after next. Carri had a rough draft of the script done, and she and Jason had gotten together to work on changes they thought needed to be made. If all went well, they would have a better script soon and would be officially attaching actors to the project. Apparently there were some who were very interested, but were waiting for what would be something close to the final script before they committed. If all went well they would start shooting this summer.

That seemed to be just the tip of the iceberg for Carri. She had her television show, which was scheduled to debut the second half of its first season at the end of January. She was excited about showing new episodes again. The reruns had been doing well and there was a good chance the numbers would at the very least be as good as they had been previously. Should the numbers hold up, they'd get a full second season renewal which would start them off with their second season next fall.

If this show continued to be a success this spring, Carri had a couple of other ideas that she had bounced around with her father that she was anxious to try out. Her father wanted her to at least wait until her current show aired the end of its season and the movie she was working on to start filming before he would work with her to pull a successful show out of her ideas. There were some ideas that Carri was quite fond of and wanted to be involved with. Should they start up she intended on pulling out of some of the more time consuming parts of _Traveling In Style_ and leave what was hopefully already a successful formula in competent hands. Only time would tell how that was all going to turn out.

As for the other aspects of her friend's life, Carri was doing pretty well. She and Rocky were still having their beach wedding in the summer. Rocky's mother still didn't approve and had hardly spoken to her son in two months but Rocky was working on rectifying that. It was hard seeing as how his mother wouldn't budge and he was going to continue to firmly side with Carri. They'd work it out eventually. At least he hoped they would.

Carri left that issue completely up to him to take care of. She had her own family issues to deal with. Her relationship with Kat was still strained however they hadn't argued in a while. They spoke some, mainly about her upcoming wedding as Kat had jumped in with Carri's mother to help Carri plan it. That was what propelled Carri into hiring a wedding planner. She simply didn't care about wedding plans and she couldn't listen to either of them on the subject anymore without running the risk of going off on one or both of them. Carri had given the wedding planner her basic ideas and she was off. Carri wasn't completely free from planning the wedding as she still had dresses to pick out and details to work out with the wedding planner. But this had cut back what she had to do and it got Kat and her mom off of her back. She was pretty sure they both had the wedding planner on speed dial and were bugging her constantly. Kim would be surprised if Carri didn't give that poor woman a huge tip.

Rocky was happy that the wedding planning was still going forward and he was still able to have his say in it. And it was going at a better pace now that a planner was involved. As far as the rest of Rocky's life was concerned, his family issues weren't the only issues he was dealing with. It had gotten to the point where he was almost completely avoiding his Stone Canyon school. Jessica still sat behind the receptionist desk and continued to indicate that she didn't know who the father was and hinted at the possibility that it could be him. Kim thought it was quite lucky that Carri didn't believe in hitting pregnant chicks. It had been nine years since they first met Jessica and that girl still got under Carri's skin.

Rocky swore the kid couldn't be his and Carri believed him, but the insinuations drove her nuts. Rocky tried to avoid his Stone Canyon school as much as possible. This wasn't as hard as one might think. It was well run and he didn't have to worry about it much. All of his schools did well and were continuing to prosper. So much so that he was actually contemplating opening up a fourth one. But that was just an idea for the moment. He wasn't sure yet if he was going to seriously look into it or not.

As for Tommy, well, things were going really well for him. Especially where she was concerned, as their relationship was flourishing. Of course that didn't mean Tommy didn't approve of some of the things she was doing where her Muirantian powers were concerned. Despite their disagreements, most of which Kim won mostly because Tommy had no real idea what she was going through or what she would be able to do one day, they were still quite the pair. They were much more connected and this was much more intense than it had ever been between the two of them. They really loved each other. This was probably their last chance to make it work but it was the best of the three that they'd had.

Where work was concerned, Tommy was continuing to do his research to bring in income. He was also taking up time with the rangers, continuing to keep an eye on ranger affairs much as he had since the Zordon wave. The most important job that he was starting, which was also the most telling sign that their relationship was actually going somewhere, was his teaching job at Angel Grove High. He conceded that Kim couldn't get a job in Reefside near as good as what she had going with Ashley. He didn't want to take her away from that or from the rest of the team and the center of the ranger action, if and when that became an issue for them again. So he formally resigned at Reefside and was going to start teaching at Angel Grove part time after winter break and full time next fall.

Hayley was going to continue to live in Tommy's Reefside home. Tommy didn't want to sell it; after all he had a command center in the basement. But he wasn't going to live there anymore so Hayley was going to move in more permanently. Tommy was content with the apartment for now but Kim had indicated that she wanted to live in a house. Since she made enough money, and Tommy already had a home in his name, they were going to start searching for a home that she would buy in her name in Angel Grove. It was a huge step for the two of them and she was excited.

Kim's life was definitely moving forward. Work was going fantastic, especially since she didn't have to duck out to fight bad guys in Angel Grove anymore. She was getting nothing but praise from Ashley and even Sandy was warming up to her. Her developments as a Muirantian were moving forward as well. She was continuing to learn magic from Mystic Mother, as frustrating as that could sometimes be. She was also working some with Ninjor. She hoped to one day be able to master coin making. She was even finding abilities to tinker with in her spare time, when she would bend time to go work with her powers for a bit.

Besides working with her powers, Kim was still tackling her duties as the Red Planetary ranger. She was more involved in ranger affairs than Tommy. Of course there was the fixing of the morphin grid, but that was only a small portion of what she had been doing. She had spent time communicating with other worlds when they needed her. On more than one occasion she had gone to help the Nova rangers in battle, dragging Carri along with her so they could start to repay all the help they had given them.

Of course her involvements and enhancing her powers had their downsides, Tommy didn't approve of not only some of the things having to do with her Muirantian powers, but with her going off to help the Nova's. Despite her assurances, he didn't trust Elemi with her and didn't want the two of them together. The other downside was that not only was she growing on the radar of other villains in the galaxy, she feared she was growing on the Dimensional Guardian's radar as well. Thomas had not come back to her with anymore requests from the DG, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

Kim sighed as she stared in the mirror. She didn't know what the future was going to hold for her. Long term that is. She had come to terms as much as one could with the fact that she would well outlive everyone she knew and loved. She assumed she'd stay involved in intergalactic affairs, stay a part of the rangers. Eventually she'd master her Muirantian powers and be able to use those at will. She assumed at some point she will have worked something out with the DG.

Of course that was probably more in the near future and that thought made her frown. But the DG aside, she was actually looking forward to the near future. She was lucky enough to have a job that she enjoyed going to. She had a man that she was in love with, a man who loved her back who she wanted to spend as much time as possible with. She had the best friends that anybody could ask for in the other rangers.

As Kim pulled away from her thoughts and started thumbing through her perfumes she heard the door to the bathroom open. "Hey beautiful." Tommy said as he walked into the bathroom standing behind Kim and putting his arms around her waist. "The limo is here." He said, leaning in to give her a kiss on the neck.

"Already?" Kim questioned, somewhat alarmed as she spun around in his arms. "I thought we had more time."

Tommy chuckled. Kim had been getting ready for ever. He hadn't seen her spend this much time in front of a mirror in years. "The limo is right on time."

Kim pouted. She couldn't believe how fast time flew. She didn't know why she was fretting so much over having the exact look for the party. It was an exclusive event. But she had been to other events before and she hadn't spent this much time getting ready, not since college anyway. The worst part was she could probably stand in there a little longer. "I'm not sure if I was finished yet." She said with a sigh.

"You're finished now. We can't keep the limo waiting." Tommy pointed out as Kim looked at him and rolled her eyes. "You look amazing I don't know what you're so worried about."

"Me neither." Kim admitted as she put her arms around him. She didn't think it was a desire to be the hottest girl at the party. She was pretty sure there were going to be women there that were professionally dressed, with professional hair and makeup to match. Maybe she was just taking the time because for now she could. For now she didn't have to worry about if she was going to get interrupted to run off and save her city.

Tommy looked down at her, smiling as he leaned in and gave her a kiss. Kim eagerly returned it as she pulled his body close to hers. Tommy's hands moved up slowly from her waist until they were cupping her face, pulling her lips into his. When they broke apart, Tommy let go of her and gently tugged her arms off of him, slipping her hand into his. "Let's go."

"Yeah" Kim agreed, although she was inclined to stay there a little longer so he could kiss her like that some more. But instead she followed him out of the bathroom, grabbing her things as they headed for the front door. Tommy stopped and locked the door and they walked toward the limo, which looked out of place in the apartment complex's parking lot.

She watched as people stared at it, stared at them as they approached it. Kim smiled to herself. This was nice. They were going to have fun. The door opened from the inside and she heard Carri and Jason hollering at her to hurry up. She laughed at her friends as she went to climb into the limo. Now was not the time to worry about anything anymore. Now was the time to go out with the people who she cared most about in the world and ring in 2008 with a bang.


End file.
